Epic Games has announced the purchase of indie developer Psyonix, most famous for their rocket-powered football/soccer game, Rocket League.
Rocket League has been rolling along (or should that be boosting?) for some time now, selling 10.5m copies since its 2015 release date. It’s also picked up several DLC tie-ins, from the likes of Rick & Morty to Jurassic Park and Fast & the Furious. What we mean to say is, Rocket League is doing pretty darn well, so it was likely no small purchase for Epic to have made.
What does the acquisition mean for Rocket League players? Hopefully, not much. Psyonix has released an FAQ on the topic, stating that “in the short term, nothing will change at all! We’re still committed to providing Rocket League with frequent updates that have new features, new content, and new ways to play the game for as long as you’ll have us.”
Psyonix also touts the support of Epic offering a big boost to their esports scene, saying “We think this is a great move for the Rocket League Esports ecosystem because it significantly increases our potential reach and resources, just like it does for the game itself.”
The confirmed news is that Rocket League will be coming to the Epic Games Store this year, assuming the purchase goes ahead as planned between May and early June 2019. In their initial press release, Epic stated “The PC version of Rocket League will come to the Epic Games store in late 2019. In the meantime, it will continue to be available for purchase on Steam; thereafter it will continue to be supported on Steam for all existing purchasers.”
This, understandably, led many to believe that Rocket League would be taken off Steam in the move to the Epic Store. Epic has since released a clarification to USGamer which said the following:
“We are continuing to sell Rocket League on Steam, and have not announced plans to stop selling the game there... Rocket League remains available for new purchasers on Steam, and long-term plans will be announced in the future.”
What those “long-term plans” will mean for the game on Steam, we honestly don’t know, but we do at least know that anyone who owns the game through Valve’s store will retain access to it and any future updates. How later DLCs will be sold if Rocket League is removed from sale on Steam, only time will tell.
