Rocket League going free-to-play and adding cross-progression

The Rocket League Summer 2020 update will bring major changes to the game, such as transitioning to a free-to-play format and removing it from Steam for the Epic Game Store.

Psyonix announced the news on July 21, in anticipation for its annual summer update. Unlike years past, this one will essentially open up the floodgates for the passionate community to grow even larger without having to buy into the title.

“It feels like it was just yesterday when Rocket League launched on PlayStation as a PlayStation Plus title,” Psyonix Editorial Manager Max Parker said. “Now, five years later, we’re ready to start the next chapter of Rocket League. It all starts when it goes free to play this summer!”

Rocket League will be releasing on the Epic Games Store “the same time it goes free to play.” After this transition, it will no longer be purchasable on Steam.

The Epic Games Store version of the game will look “identical” to the regular game, just with refined menus, a revamp to Tournaments and Challenged, as well as new cross-platform progression.

With the cross-platform progression, players will retain their items, Rocket Pass progress, and their Competitive Rank throughout any platform using their Epic Games Account.

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The studio will release more information about how it will all work when Rocket League’s free-to-play format launches later in the summer. No exact dates have been announced yet.

As for the Steam community, even though the game won’t be on the store anymore, Psyonix reassured players that they “will be able to play and enjoy the game with full support for future updates and features.”

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For the people who joined the Rocket League community before its free-to-play transition, the devs are giving a bundle of free items including:

• All Rocket League-branded DLC released before free to play
• “Est. 20XX” 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 for people who played online before the announcement

There’s going to be a ton of changes to Rocket League, but it’s a new approach that Psyonix hopes will only bolster the community they’ve built.