Rocket League is fun to play with friends after a long day, but how popular is it in 2020? It is no fun to load into Rocket League to find that getting into a match takes more than fifteen minutes.
When it launched back in 2014, Rocket League bought a brand new mechanism for gaming.
It mixed two of my favorite things – soccer and cars. I was hooked instantly; I even bought an Xbox Controller for my PC to play with my friends as it provided a superior playing experience over the keyboard.
I would be lying if I say Rocket League didn’t help me in the quarantine’s initial months to overcome the feeling of locked away, but after a few months, I noticed the long waits in player lobbies and queues.
Then came the Epic giveaway, it breathed in a fresh wave of players into the system, and things were back to normal, or were they?
Rocket League is still one of the most played games on Steam but has seen a steady decrease in the past few months. The Free to Play strategy has been a lifesaver as it brought the concurrent player count to 1 million!
1. How The Player Base is Shrinking
Rocket League has seen a decline in user base since last year. Most of the players don’t stick around for the entirety of the match as they realize Rocket League takes a little more skill than your run off the mill shooter.
In the first quarter of 2019, Rocket League saw a plummet in the current player count on Steam, with the average hovering around 32K players.
This trend continued till the last quarter, and it was only till November last year that the game saw an uptick in daily users, where the current users touched an average of 50K.
The main factor as to players abandoning the game mid-match is something I too experienced at first.
There is a different skill set required to get good in Rocket League; it is not as simple as just point and shoot like most shooters. Racing the length of the field chasing that ball, only to miss out on kicking it entirely, is quite frustrating.
Apart from blaming the lack of transferable skills from other games, some would say the casual game becomes too competitive for them.
Matches in Rocket League often bring out the competitive strike in people, which is not what they want when unwinding from a long day.
2. Giveaway Brings in New Talent
Opposite to the trend in 2019. This year Rocket League saw a jump in player base on Steam. New Players were coming in as match queues got shorter, and wait times decreased.
According to Steam Charts, the surge of players in September can be part awarded to the Epic Giveaway.
It brought in a wave of new players, which meant everybody in Rocket League could connect to a match faster. The upwards bump is quite evident in the charts.
3. The Epic Revival: 1 Million Concurrent Players in Rocket League
With the release on Epic Games Store, Rocket League went Free to Play over this summer. After five years since its launch, Rocket League now has 1 Million concurrent players. This statistic was achieved in only 24h after they announced that they were going free to play.
This was a much-needed revival, as players were not willing to drop 20$ on a game they were not sure about, and the shrinking player base was a testament to that.
Even the new content and season updates couldn’t hold the users down, so this free to play strategy was the way to go.
4. The Rocket League Competetive Scene
Rocket League was part of an active competitive scene with the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) hosting its 9th season. The event was expected to see 10 of the best e-sports teams, with many high seeded organizations.
The event was canceled given the ongoing COVID pandemic, but this in no way signifies that Rocket League is shrinking in the era of the competitive games. The prize pool was divided and distributed to the regional championships. Even though there was no world championship, many local events popped up.
5. What Lies Ahead for Rocket League?
The jump from 200-300K to 1 million players is quite a feat, and there’s no telling where the devs steer the ship from here.
The last week of September marked the start of Rocket League’s Llama-Rama event, where it will be partnering up with Fortnite to provide a unique in-game event.
Earlier this year, Rocket League was the most popular game in four states in the United States; with the influx of these players, this number will go only up. It will be interesting to see how the developers keep the player base happy.
6. How to Get Rocket League For Free: No Steam Version?
Since Rocket League is now free to play on all platforms, players can head down to their respective store to get the game for free. For PC players, though, the game has now moved from Steam to the Epic Games Store.
7. About Rocket League
Rocket League is a soccer game where players utilize lightning-fast, “rocket-powered” cars to score goals and win the match for their team. Owing to its fast-paced gameplay and uncomplicated controls, soccer fans or not, its a delight for every gamer out there.
Even though, the game revolves around cars, a great level of soccer detail is added which makes Rocket League captivating to enthusiasts. A wide array of cars and movements are also offered. The cherry on top is that the cars are customizable. Thus, as per one’s inclination, personal touch can be added to the game.
This sports arcade game also provides a cross-platform multiplayer experience so that consoles and PC gamers can unite and play together. This makes Rocket League a highly addicting game further justifying the positive feedback received by it throughout the world.
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