Go Big Or Go Home: Psyonix Founds Large Rocket League eSports Tournament

[toc]An announcement last week confirmed that Pysonix, developer of the popular eSport Rocket League, has partnered with Twitch to help grow Rocket League’s presence in the competitive gaming world. Twitch has been working with Pysonix to create the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS).

The RLCS opens for registrations later this month on March 25. This Rocket League eSports tournament will take place over a three-month period. Although we don’t yet know definitively that esports betting sites like Bet365 esports will offer lines on the event, Twitch’s involvement makes it very likely that some will. Similarly, the deal should increase general interest in betting on Rocket League.

How it works

To enter the RLCS, players must have a team composed of three to four players. Teams must be located either in the U.S. or Europe. During the Rocket League Championship Series, teams will compete for a piece of seventy-five thousand dollars in prize money. The RLCS will be available on PC, PlayStation 4, and eventually Xbox One.

Psyonix has bigger plans than just expanding its eSports division. Future endeavors include the release of a special collector’s edition of Rocket League. The collector’s editions will be a physical version of the game that will be available for both PC and PlayStation 4.

Nick Allen, Director of eSports operations at Twitch, explained the progression of involving Rocket League in eSports on a wider scale in an interview with Fortune:

“The Rocket League Championship Series is our first eSports partnership effort since partnering with Capcom on the Capcom Pro Tour back in 2014.

This marks a venture into a very deep, robust, and multiyear relationship, and while we’re not ruling out partnering with other leagues, we’re very selective with the game and developer we’d be open to working with.”

On March 2, Psyonix released a teaser for the upcoming championship series:

What’s so great about Rocket League?

Rocket League launched in the summer of 2015 and rapidly gained popularity. Since its launch, Rocket League has gained more than twelve million players. Both Twitch and Psyonix hope to use their new business relationship to increase Rocket League’s involvement in eSports in a wider scale.

In the RLCS announcement Psyonix Vice President Jeremy Dunham talked about the expansion of his company’s game:

“From the moment we hit the pitch last July, we knew that Rocket League was a legitimate esport. Twitch and its streamers have been an instrumental part of our success since we launched last July, and that made them a perfect match for us.

We couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with a team that we respect as highly as we do Twitch, and we can’t wait to show the world what we can do in esports together!”

Rocket League Season 1 Pro Playoffs

On March 6, Rocket League began its first pro playoff series. This tournament consists of eight teams competing 3V3. The tournament is divided up into quarters and semis that will be best-of-seven matches. Season 1 ends when the two remaining teams compete in a best-of-nine final. The entire event will be streamed on Twitch.

Here are the eight teams that will compete in the Season 1 Pro Playoffs:

Rudee Rossignol
Rudee Rossignol

Since: March 8, 2016

Rudee is a Las Vegas-based writer covering a number of topics related to the legal online gambling industry, including online poker, regulated Internet casinos and eSports.

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