After the long wait, Rocket League has officially gone free-to-play. For developer Psyonix, the shift to the new structure has benefitted them as the game gets a ton of players on its first day as a free title.
Rocket League has been around since 2016, and while it was popular, there’s no doubt that the amount of players has drastically decreased. Now that it has become a free game, the developers have benefitted from it greatly as the number of concurrent players on the first day is huge.
A success for Psyonix
Psyonix co-studio head Corey Davis tweeted that the game has reached 1 million players online. At one point, the game got exactly 1,003,036 players during the game’s free-to-play launch. This shouldn’t be surprising as the game was once one of the top multiplayer titles in previous years.
Today @RocketLeague passed 1 million concurrent players! Let's go!!!! pic.twitter.com/IuCSqSGOA8
— Corey Davis (@mrcoreydavis) September 24, 2020
There are a lot of factors that can contribute to the success of the move of Psyonix. For starters, the game is available on various platforms, including the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. Even better is that there is cross-play so players and friends across different platforms can play with each other.
From a business perspective, the move might help Psyonix make more out of Rocket League. Sure enough, not many of the game is being sold in recent years. The number of the game’s players had declined, so it wasn’t as popular.
How can Psyonix benefit?
While free-to-play, the game does have some form of monetization. This means the developer can still make a profit from the game’s microtransactions, such as the loot boxes. The developer could also introduce more ways to spend money on the game.
The developer has also introduced a battle royale-like battle pass to the game called the Rocket Pass. This is a multi-tiered leveling system that rewards players the more they play the game. To get the Rocket Pass, players will have to pay extra for some of the rewards. This will be the primary means of Psyonix to make the most out of the game.
Rocket League is now free-to-play on all platforms. Those who have the game before it became free are awarded the Legacy Status, which comes with a ton of bonuses such as special cosmetics and all previous cosmetics unlocked for them. With cross-save in tow, players can enjoy the game across all the platforms they have.
Image used courtesy of Rocket League/YouTube