Rocket League, a twist on arena sports that’s easiest to describe as, “soccer with cars,” has surprised and astounded the video game industry, holding a dominant position as a top seller on major distribution channels like Steam and as one of the most played games on Twitch.tv since its release on July 7 (Psyonix Studios, 2015).
Despite ongoing technical issues with online servers (multiplayer arguably being Rocket League’s best feature), it has not only competed against gaming’s heaviest contenders (League of Legends, DOTA, Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, Counter Strike, etc.), but its actually drawing players away from those staple titles for days and weeks on end. These are games where those who choose to play them tend to play one game, and one alone. League of Legends itself takes over three thousand hours just to unlock its heroes and skins, let alone master (Hadukan, 2013). World of Warcraft and similar Massive Multiplayer games are living worlds where to stop logging in means (figurative) death!
What’s most interesting about Rocket League is that the game is essentially a reboot. Super Powered Rocket Cars, Rocket League's predecessor, remained relatively unheard of for the duration of its release, and it is essentially the same game. Rocket League is SPRC with a new paint job--redesigned and remodeled on a more powerful and intuitive Unreal Engine 3.
At face value, Rocket League is re-release of a relatively unsuccessful game with a relatively simple game concept, a seemingly narrow market, and it was plagued with technical issues at launch…so, what’s the Rocket League's appeal? It boils down to innovation, product execution, inadvertent marketing, and a dash of luck.
First, simple though it may be, Psyonix carved a niche for itself with Rocket League; there’s just nothing else like it. One to four players use cars essentially as soccer players, with the ability to dash, “kick,” and jump for the ball. Using these skills, or any combination thereof, teams duke it out in a battle dome against AI, online multiplayer, or local split screen opponents in five-minute matches.
Still, having an innovative concept is not the same as executing it well, and Rocket League just feels so damn good! The game’s physics, controls, and base mechanics are so well programmed that you forget you are playing soccer with a car. It becomes a third foot with practice, and once you start bending shots into the goal (so satisfying!) the focus shifts to one of Rocket League’s most surprising elements: team-based strategy. Especially in ranked matches (which add a more serious, competitive element in themselves), team synergy is a crucial part of the metagame in Rocket League; not unlike the sport it is modeled after. So, in a nutshell, Rocket League has depth—more than people expected, anyway. That’s not including at least a hundred different unlockables (with more to come as DLC, I’m sure).
Finally, there is no better example of, “right place at the right time,” than Rocket League. Psyonix got in early with some big online personalities on Twitch, and because the game is, well, addicting, what started with casual mention became weeklong and cross-stream marathons as streamers played with and against friends and viewers. On Twitch, it only takes a few big name streamers to skyrocket a game to the top of their directory, and Rocket League was there within days of release. This alone is enough to sell copies, but to ensure their game was populated, they offered it free on PlayStation 4 to PlayStation Plus subscribers. Therein lies the cause of their technical difficulties at launch: Psyonix succeeded in populating their game…far beyond the capacities they designed it for (Crawley, 2015).
With a unique, well-implemented product, Psyonix was able to capitalize on word-of-mouth marketing. Though (given Rocket League’s unforecasted success and considering more than half of PS4 owners subscribe to PS+) it may have been unwise financially, Psyonix supplemented these word-of-mouth sales by offering the game free to select players, and connected to an audience exponentially greater than anticipated (Grub, 2014).
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References
Crawley, D. (2015, July 21). Rocket League's breakout success is a surprise for Psyonix. Retrieved July 21, 2015, from http://venturebeat.com/2015/07/21/rocket-leagues-breakout-success-is-a-surprise-for-psyonix/
Twitch.tv. (2015, July 21) Games Directory [Image]. Retrieved July 21, 2015, fromhttp://www.twitch.tv/directory
Grub, J. (2014, February 10). More than half of PlayStation 4 owners subscribe to PS Plus. Retrieved July 23, 2015, from http://venturebeat.com/2014/02/10/more-than-half-of-playstation-4-owners-subscribe-to-ps-plus/
Hadukan. (2013, May 11). Total Cost of all champions! Retrieved July 21, 2015, fromhttp://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=3433343
Psyonix Studios. (2015, July 7). Rocket League Press Release. Retrieved July 21, 2015, fromhttp://www.gamasutra.com/view/pressreleases/247946/FUTURISTIC_SPORTSACTION_ARRIVES_AS_ROCKET_LEAGUE_BLASTS_ONTOPLAYSTATIONreg4_and_PC_TODAY.php
Steam Store. (2015, July 21). Top Sellers [Image]. Retrieved July 21, 2015, from https://store.steampowered.com/search/?filter=topsellers
