Months of tension in the Rocket League community exploded today after a Reddit user going by RaskullQuake posted an open letter to the game’s esports subreddit, sparking a wave of support that pushed it to the top all-time post there as users expressed their frustration with Psyonix’s seeming inability to properly run the competitive scene as well as other assorted Rocket League problems.
The Letter
[embedded content]
In the open letter, Raskull railed against Psyonix for the major let down the past year has been for the competitive environment and fanbase. Starting with the esports in-game item shop being introduced but not updated for new teams and items, he quickly turned on Psyonix for their decision to accept a buyout by Fortnite developer Epic Games which, while many hoped it would bring more investment into the esports space by the company, has seen little change.
Pointing to examples of problems in the Rocket League scene that are still embarrassingly present, such as the European scene getting almost no support from the developer, being forced instead to rely upon non-endemic help to keep the scene afloat while Psyonix focused on the Collegiate scene they’ve been developing.
They also pointed to the company’s recent firing of fan-favorite casters, such as Lawler, without explanation or even an official announcement to the public. In addition, Psyonix has been accused of failing to inform the community and players about the upcoming Olympic event that almost every other major tournament for the year was canceled for, and, most importantly to Raskull, the lack of announcement for the OCE region’s Rocket League Championship Series, which is supposed to start in two weeks with the rest of the regions.
From there the letter accuses Psyonix of failing to invest and nurture the growth of an esport that has the potential to dominate the industry with its ease of familiarity for non-endemic viewers (it’s soccer with RC cars), and it’s lack of violence (they’re RC cars) and calls on the community to “sign” the letter in the comments, while Raskull themself personally vowed to not buy anything from the company until the situation with the competitive landscape is rectified.
Psyonix Response
Upon the letters explosion on the subreddit, Psyonix Esports Community Manager Ian quickly took to the comments to give the companies response to the letter, stating,
“Hey all, To start, we understand your frustrations and we’re not ignoring them. The whole team here loves Rocket League and Rocket League Esports and we’re working hard to do right by our fans and community.
Also, I know it doesn’t always feel this way, but we’re listening, even when we don’t engage directly. The whole team here is constantly evaluating feedback from the community and with that in mind, rest assured that we’ll have more information on many of these topics soon.
On a personal note, I’m here to talk whenever it’s needed. I try to be as active on Discord and other platforms as I can. Never be afraid to reach out!”
While many thanked him for trying to give an answer back to the community in light of the outrage, most still expressed frustration that from the community end at least, nothing still appears to be getting done or is at least not being communicated to them.
It’s clear that things have gone downhill in an esport that many from the outside had considered on the upswing lately, and with fears that the scene may not be able to last long-term if Psyonix doesn’t do something or try to rectify the situation with fans, the company is going to need to come out to the public about what they intend to do about these Rocket League problems sooner rather than later.
