Many had feared that when Epic Games had acquired the Rocket League developer Psyonix, that the game would no longer be available on Steam. While that didn’t happen immediately, that’s all going to change now that Rocket League is going free-to-play. The game won’t leave Steam entirely, however.
Shortly, Epic Games will no longer allow Rocket League to be sold on Steam. I see this as a move to force any new players to the game to migrate or at the very least purchase the game on the Epic Games Store. However, if you already own Rocket League on Steam, you’ll still be able to download whenever. You’ll still have access to all future updates as well, so that’s not going away.
The downside to this is all the current DLC that’s available for Rocket Leauge is no longer available for purchase on Steam. While that may not seem like a big deal, the game had several cosmetics, including the Back to the Future, Hot Wheels, DC Super Heroes and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
As for the future of Rocket League, well it’s looking brighter than ever. Epic Games has confirmed that the game will see several updates, including a revamped challenge system, revamped tournament system, new cosmetics, and more importantly, cross-platform progression and inventories. This was teased a while back, but once the game goes free-to-play, this will finally be put into place. No matter what platform you play on, your game progression and all your loot will follow you.
Lastly, anyone who has played Rocket League before the game going free-to-play will be rewarded with a Legacy status. This shows that you’ve supported the game and will be rewarded with the following:
- All Rocket League-branded DLC released before going free to play (Vulcan, Triton, Proteus, Masamune, Marauder, Esper, Aftershock)
- A title that displays the first year you played Rocket League
- 200+ Common items upgraded to “Legacy” quality
- Golden Cosmos Boost
- Dieci-Oro Wheels
- Huntress Player Banner
- Faded Cosmos Boost
We don’t know when the game will go free-to-play, yet with Epic Games making this announcement you can be sure it won’t be much longer.
That said, if you aren’t a fan of the Epic Games Store and I know there’s quite a few of you out there, then I’d highly recommend you pony up the $20 and pick up Rocket League on Steam before you can’t do it anymore.
As for my thoughts, we knew this was going to happen. The moment Epic Games acquired the devs and game, it was 100% certain this was to EGS. I’m just surprised it took so long for this to happen. Like the move or not, it’s a smart business move and Epic Games knows this. The game will get more traction going free-to-play, and that’s more players installing EGS and becoming part of the ecosystem. I expect to see a lot of complaints due to the recent news.
What do you think about the game going free-to-play and moving to EGS? Let us know in the comments.
