Rocket League

Rocket League combines arcade football with fast, rocket-powered cars. Instead of controlling players, you steer a vehicle around the field, jump, use boost and hit an oversized ball. Scoring depends not on fixed shots but on timing, ball physics, positioning and cooperation with your teammates.

Developed by Psyonix, the game is free to play and focuses on short matches, training, private matches and competitive online duels. Vehicle looks can be customised with bodies, wheels, paints and other items.

Rocket League was released on Jul 7, 2015 for Windows PC and PlayStation 4. The native Xbox One version followed on Feb 17, 2016, and the Nintendo Switch version on Nov 14, 2017. The game was developed and published by Psyonix; Panic Button supported the Xbox One port.

On Sep 23, 2020, Psyonix permanently switched Rocket League to free to play. At the same time, the Epic Games Store was added as the PC route, along with a reworked tournament system, new challenges and cross-account progress. The switch was not a new game, but a fundamental change to the existing product.

The base game has its own native releases for Windows PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. On PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, the respective older console version can be run, which does not prove a separate native PS5 or Xbox Series release.

For new PC players, the Epic Games Store is the standard download route. Anyone who owned Rocket League on Steam before the free-to-play switch can keep using that version and still receives game updates. New Steam purchases, however, have been discontinued. Historical activation keys are therefore not equivalent to the regular free Epic version.

Cars can accelerate, jump, flip, roll and stay in the air with boost. The ball reacts to direction, speed and angle of impact. A safe clearance from your own half, a precise pass and a controlled aerial hit therefore require different car movements.

In team play, rotation matters too: not all cars chase the ball at once. A player who drops back after an attack, collects boost pads and makes room for the next teammate contributes just as much to the result as a direct shot on goal.

The classic modes pit teams of one, two or three players against each other. Rocket League also offers private matches and training options where you can practise car movement, ball touches and plays.

Established Extra Modes include Hoops with raised basketball hoops, Snow Day with a puck, Rumble with time-limited special abilities and Dropshot, where the ball damages parts of the floor. The public playlist lineup can change; the rules described are independent of that.

In ranked mode, matchmaking groups players by skill level. Rank tiers run from Bronze, Silver, Gold and other classes up to the top tiers Grand Champion and Supersonic Legend. The rank you reach depends on your performance in the relevant playlist.

The tournament system pits teams against each other in bracket format. Training packs, free play and individual drills give you a way to practise timing and ball touches before your next ranked match. The structure is permanent, while tournament times, season rewards and rank thresholds vary.

The base Rocket League has had no purchase price since September 2020. Core matches, online game modes and competitive play are part of the free base game. Cosmetic content is offered through the Item Shop, challenges and the seasonal Rocket Pass, among other things.

The Premium tier of the Rocket Pass unlocks additional cosmetic items and rewards. The content of individual seasons changes, so old vehicles and time-limited packs are not reliable indicators of today's offer. If you just want to play football with cars, you do not need to buy a historical Steam key.

Rocket League supports cross-platform online matches: players on Epic PC, existing Steam installs, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch can play together. Cross-platform friend lists let you form teams without everyone owning the same device.

The feature does not mean every platform has received a new native version. If you play on a PS5 or Xbox Series, you use the supported console version within the existing network. Crossplay and transferring your own save progress are two different features.

Cross-platform game progress uses an Epic Games account as the shared link. Linked accounts take over rank, experience level and Rocket Pass progress from a chosen primary platform. Psyonix also describes a shared inventory.

Not every item and gift card is available across platforms. Certain platform-exclusive items and gift cards in particular are restricted. Switching device therefore does not mean that every purchase and balance transfers without exception. When linking, you should deliberately choose the platform whose progress you want as primary.

Vehicles can be visually changed with paints, wheels, boost effects, goal explosions and other items. Items can come from challenges, rewards, the Rocket Pass or the Item Shop. The Trade-In system lets you exchange certain existing items and receive a different item in return.

Direct trading between players was permanently removed on Dec 5, 2023. Since then, players cannot trade items with each other or between accounts. The internal Trade-In system is a different feature and remained in place. External websites that still offer player trading are not an official replacement.

Epic lists these minimum requirements for Windows PCs: 4 GB RAM, a dual-core processor at 2.5 GHz, an Nvidia GTX 760 or AMD Radeon R9 270X and DirectX 11. The recommended setup is 8 GB RAM, a quad-core processor from 3.0 GHz and a GTX 1060 or RX 470. According to the support page, 20 GB of storage and a broadband connection are required.

These figures are minimum store specifications, not a guarantee of a particular frame rate or resolution. The official PC version is designed for 64-bit Windows systems.

Psyonix ended online support for the original macOS and Linux/SteamOS versions in 2020. The affected builds can still access offline features such as local matches, but not the current online service. That is why macOS and Linux are not currently supported native online platforms.

Anyone who owned Rocket League on Steam for Mac or Linux can, according to the official announcement, still use the Windows version through that Steam account. A Windows version run via compatibility software on Linux is not the same as a native Linux release.

Rocket League was developed and published by Psyonix. It builds on the idea of Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars, also from Psyonix, but focuses on an accessible arena structure with precisely controllable cars. The Xbox One port was made with support from Panic Button.

The switch to the free model in 2020 brought lasting structures such as cross-platform progression, Rocket Pass seasons and reworked tournaments. The player trading feature, switched off later, shows that available features do not stay unchanged despite continuous updates.