Rocket League will finally go free-to-play this Summer alongside a shift on PC from Steam to the Epic Games Store. The company behind Fortnite purchased Psyonix and their car-based soccer phenomenon back in May 2019, and strongly hinted at the time that the game would shift focus to their own storefront. In the intervening year, the game has shifted towards the microtransactions you might expect in a free-to-play product, dropping the free items players might accrue and featuring a more integral store component. Despite that, it's clear that players keep coming back month after month, and Rocket League's audience will only grow with this summer's updates.
Even before this big change, the team at Psyonix has been very busy. Back in January of last year, Rocket League became the second game ever to achieve cross-play across Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and PC, a feature that many multiplayer titles are quickly adopting as we shift into a new generation. Earlier this year, the game became one of the featured showcases in ESPN2's new coverage of eSports, sharing the stage with NBA 2K20, Apex Legends, and other virtual competitions fit for a world where actual sports is no longer feasible.
In a post to their official blog, the Psyonix team goes over the Free to Play update coming soon to Rocket League. Players who have played the game at any point before the launch of Free to Play will get a Legacy status, which gifts players with free DLC, a clutch of common items upgraded to legacy status, and a few new cosmetic options. In addition, the update will add cross-progression through a player's Epic Games account, meaning that their items transfer seamlessly to different consoles and PC.
For current players on Steam, the idea is that nothing will change. Anyone who owns the game now on Valve's platform will get all the benefits coming to other platforms, and they'll still be able to play with their friends. However, when Rocket League goes free-to-play, anyone who doesn't already own the game will no longer be able to download it on Steam. Instead, the game will be exclusive to the Epic Games Store, joining Fortnite, Battle Breakers, and the starved corpse of Unreal Tournament as first-party Epic Games titles. No matter where you're playing, Psyonix also promises updated menus and revamped Tournaments and Challenges as part of the larger Free to Play launch.
When Epic Games picked up Psyonix and Rocket League, it was only a matter of time before things shifted over to their storefront. Epic has continued to push relentlessly, carving out a respectable chunk of a market once thought to be solely Valve and Steam's property. While there has been controversy in the past regarding the Epic Games Store and its many exclusive pickups, players are now seeing it as less of an intruder and more of what it actually is. After all, Rocket League is still fully playable on PC, it's just on a new storefront.
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Rocket League will go free-to-play later this summer on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC via the Epic Games Store
Source: Psyonix