[ad_1]
For football fans, the news of yesterday hit like a bump out of nowhere: after almost two decades of independence, Rocket League 
developer Psyonix was acquired by Fortnite maker Epic Games . Companies have been working together for a long time, when Psyonix was primarily a support studio Rocket LeagueSuccess, but it was still an unexpected turn of events.
Psyonix and Epic Games declined to comment further on the terms of the agreement, which should be finalized later this month or early June. We do not know how much Epic Games paid for the San Diego-based studio and Rocket League, which has about 57 million players to date, and we do not know how Epic plans to integrate Psyonix into society.
In a blogPsyonix suggested that nothing would change in the short term. Rocket League will move to Epic Games Store at one point and will end new sales via Steam, although the millions of existing buyers will still benefit from continued support Valve Platform. But above all, Psyonix believes that acquisition can accelerate Rocket LeagueIt's sports stage, and I see some ways this can happen.
Rocket League"The growth of sports has been progressive and sometimes too slow for some anxious parties.
Without a doubt, joining the Epic family opens Psyonix and Rocket League considerably more financial resources. Fortnite alone, has earned billions for Epic Games and is now a heavyweight in the market sector. This is the huge success of the company with the widely used Unreal Engine, as well as the revenue from the recent launch of the Epic Games Store – oh, and October's $ 1.25 billion financing cycle.
We have already seen how Epic can unlock huge amounts of money in a spying effort. With the initial success of FortniteIn royal battle mode, society announced plans to fund $ 100 million in prizes in the first year of competition – culminating in the July $ 30 million World Cup. Organizations have invaded Fortnite, and the fervent interest that surrounded the game has spread to his sports scene.
Granted that Fortnite Esport push came with a lot of controversy. Epic Games has explored a wide range of formats while tweaking the game itself, including modifying major elements of the game just before major competitions – or by introducing strange and restrictive rules for players during events. Successful esport must balance the need for entertaining play with competitive integrity, and sometimes, Fortnite seemed more concerned with the first than the second.
Credit: Psyonix
Related article: Psyonix and ELEAGUE explain how a new deal can elevate Rockport League Esports
On the other hand, apart from semi-recurring server problems and occasional format troubles, the biggest problems with Rocket League Esports have generally been that players, organizations and fans want a much faster growth and evolution.
There is a lot of hype around the potential of the game as it is an overloaded version of football that almost everyone can understand at a glance, even without playing it. Beyond the own Psyonix Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS), co-founded with and initially operated by Tic major players like NBC, ESPN and ELEAGUE have all Rocket League competitions in the last two years.
But despite this hype, Rocket League"The growth of sports has been progressive and sometimes too slow for some anxious parties. The players wanted more competitions and money at stake, and Psyonix and its partners gradually reacted in this way. At the same time, organizations wanted elements of revenue sharing in the game and a clearer roadmap to guide their ongoing investments. And after a lot of frustration behind the scenes and some team starts, Psyonix recently launched a pilot program of sporting goods with 11 teams.
Plus there are people who play and care about Rocket League, the more who will watch and follow the esports side.
Imagine what Psyonix could do with a lot more money in hand. Could we see playing in the studio in the regular season? A franchise system? More reliable servers? How about massively boosted prize pools? The last two RLCS seasons have each offered $ 1 million in winnings, but that's a pittance compared to what Epic does with Fortnite. In my opinion, in the best case, Epic cuts a big check to Psyonix and asks the studio to continue what he did, albeit on a larger scale and with more flexibility.
After almost four years on the market and three years as an esport, Rocket League will not suddenly explode as a phenomenon of esports simply because of an influx of money. However, Psyonix has built something seemingly enduring over these years with a well-established base game that has the potential to last for a while. Giving him stronger funding and allowing Psyonix to push harder than ever could have a slow burning effect that makes Epic a long-term mint.
Under the umbrella of Epic, it also seems likely that Rocket League will be available free of charge worldwide as soon as possible. It worked very well as a $ 20 game with in-game purchases, considering the number of players mentioned above and continued growth over the years – but with FortniteEpic has seen the wonders of what an incredibly user-friendly free game model can do to remove obstacles, create awareness and generate ongoing enthusiasm among players.
Credit: Psyonix
Playing for free is sure to have a coaching effect on esports. Plus there are people who play and care about Rocket League, the more who will watch and follow the esports side. It can also guarantee the constant arrival of new talents in the game, as well as between the notifications in the live sports event game and the free elements in the game attributed to Twitch viewers, Rocket League already has a strong integration of esports to allow this growth.
Finally, it is easy to overlook the role that Tencent plays in this regard. The Chinese gaming giant owns 40% of Epic Games and is also known as the parent company of League of Legends developer Riot Games . League of Legends is an extremely popular sport, of course, and the success of Tencent on mobile Honor of kings (Arena of Valor) has a flourishing league in China. The company is also investing aggressively in PUBG Mobile competitions.
Psyonix and Tencent have already collaborated on a free Chinese version of Rocket Leagueand with the immense reach and resources of Tencent, not to mention a growing and growing interest in esport, it could also help develop Rocket League esports globally. Asia is currently an untapped market for the competitive game scene and huge growth potential. Rocket League could also suit the spotlight as an option for the Asian Games, as a result reaction of the sports leaders about violent video games.
Until the transaction is officially concluded and companies begin to talk in more detail, it is too early to say what the real impact of the acquisition will be on Rocket League esports.
Of course, this agreement has potential disadvantages. It's reasonable to worry about the coming of Epic Games and what's already working so well for Rocket League as a game and a sport, or have a negative impact on the Psyonix culture. After all, news of the acquisition came soon after Epic Games employees suffered several months of intensive development to keep pace. Fortnite"Content feed. It is an unsustainable model with potentially disastrous consequences.
In addition, how many studios did we see aspired by a major third-party publisher (such as Activision or EA ) over the years and then closed once it has survived its usefulness and / or profitability? Following Psyonix's recent advertising and sponsorship deal with Turner Sports and ELEAGUE, studio vice president Jeremy Dunham told The Esports Observer the separation of Twitch and the operation of the RLCS itself was a matter of "[having] as much as possible about our destiny. But when your business becomes an affiliate of another, ultimate control is removed from your responsibilities.
Until the transaction is officially concluded and companies begin to talk in more detail, it is too early to say what the real impact of the acquisition will be on Rocket League esports. But relying on the resources of its new owner and drawing some lessons from Fortnite, Psyonix has the opportunity to inject nitrous into its growth plans and ignite Rocket LeagueS envisaged ascent to level 1 status.
[ad_2]
Source link