Recently, Rocket League developer Psyonix announced that it was being acquired by Fortnite creator Epic Games in the coming months.
The announcement raised more questions than answers and Rocket League fans were initially less than thrilled by the news. Fans, esports professionals, and content creators alike flooded the replies of the announcement tweet expressing their disdain for the acquisition and asking serious questions about what will become of their favorite game. Players have even review bombed Rocket League on Steam, and /r/RocketLeague has been riddled with downvote brigades.
Epic Games is acquiring “Rocket League” developers Psyonix in the coming months.
Psyonix/Epic Games
The gut reaction from players wasn’t helped by Psyonix’s less-than-satisfactory FAQ that was released alongside the announcement. The impression this FAQ left on fans is perhaps best illustrated by a segment from the very beginning:
Your first question to news like this might be, ‘What does this mean for Rocket League and its community?’ We’re happy to say that the answers are only positive.
This sort of non-communication is consistent throughout the brief FAQ, with every response ensuring the move will be beneficial but stopping short of any real answers as to what to expect. Psyonix even had to update the page hours after the fact to ensure fans that they’d even be able to continue to play the game on Steam:
Rocket League is and remains available on Steam. Anyone who owns Rocket League through Steam can still play it and can look forward to continued support.
Since the announcement, we’ve learned through an Epic interview with Variety that Rocket League and all of its updates and future DLC will continue to be available on Steam for those who already own the game on the platform. However, it’s unconfirmed at the moment if Rocket League will become an Epic Store exclusive after the takeover, though it’s highly likely. It sounds like the two versions of the game will coexist in the PC market on the separate platforms, but both companies fail to mention if player profiles and inventories will transfer between the two, what will become of Rocket League’s plentiful Steam Workshop content, and what sort of changes to the game they can expect.
Personally, I believe that the move to Epic Games is an incredible opportunity for Rocket League that will boost both the game’s development and the esports scene to new heights. Epic Games can’t realistically change the core gameplay that makes Rocket League so great, and players should look forward to the increase in resources for game patches and funding for the esports scene.
While the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the announcement from fans is a bit dramatic, the lack of real communication about the acquisition has frustrated even the most optimistic fans who just want to know what to expect.
