Rocket League is hoping to court a new group of fans by switching to free-to-play this summer. Also known as “freemium,” free-to-play means you’ll be able to play the popular video game without any up-front cost, but various upgrades and game modes will likely be shifted behind a pay wall. Psyonix, the developer behind Rocket League, didn’t specify a date for the change, only that it will happen later this summer.
In Rocket League, you play a fast-paced game of car soccer with a proportionally huge ball in rocket-powered cars that can fly in controlled bursts. You can play the game on a variety of systems including PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Rocket League even supports cross-platform play, so PC players can challenge PS4 players in a match.
Along with the switch to free-to-play, Rocket League will also move to a new PC gaming platform. Previously found on Steam, it will switch to the Epic Games Store later this summer as it moves to freemium.
Epic acquired Psyonix in 2019, so the shift makes sense, and the free-to-play model has proven highly successful for the parent company in its hit game Fortnite.
In Tuesday’s announcement blog post, Psyonix clarified that Rocket League’s action will stay the same, and anyone who already owns a copy will still be able to play the game and enjoy all of the features and future updates. PC gamers who use Steam will still be able to play the game on Steam. They just won’t be able to buy a new copy on Steam once it switches over.
Current owners of the game will also get a few bonuses to denote their “legacy” status. Psyonix didn’t clarify which elements of the game would be placed behind the paywall. Rocket League currently costs $20 on your platform of choice.
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