Hey everyone! Our next update at the end of June will also mark the conclusion of Season 2 and the beginning of Season 3. Of course, we’ll announce a more specific date as we get closer to launch, but in the meantime, we wanted to let you know what you can expect to see in terms of rewards based on your highest-reached competitive skill tier:

• Prospect I or higher – Season 2 Prospect Rocket Trail
• Challenger I or higher – Season 2 Challenger Rocket Trail
• Rising Star or higher – Season 2 Star Rocket Trail
• Champion or higher – Season 2 Champion Rocket Trail
• Grand Champion – “Season 2 Grand Champion” Title

NOTE: You will also receive the rewards for all skill tiers below your highest. For example, a player who reached “Rising Star” will receive the Season 2 Star, Challenger, and Prospect Rocket Trails. Enjoy these sneak preview GIFs that show them off:

PROSPECT ROCKET TRAIL:

CHALLENGER ROCKET TRAIL:

RISING STAR ROCKET TRAIL:

CHAMPION ROCKET TRAIL:


SEASON 3
With the beginning of the new Competitive Season, we have some larger changes planned that we wanted to share in advance of its launch:

SKILL WIPE
As the first year of competitive Rocket League draws to a close, it’s an ideal time for a clean slate. With this in mind, we will push a full Skill Rating wipe for all competitive playlists, while also watching how the skill curve shakes out without legacy data from previous seasons.
We recognize that a full reset will not solve all of the concerns raised during Season 2, but the wipe will give us valuable data to analyze as we move forward. For Grand Champion players in particular, we want to observe how the top ranks settle before deciding how to approach past complaints about stagnation and rank climbing.

SMURFING
We will also take steps in Season 3 to curb some of the “smurfing” issues seen in previous seasons. While it is ultimately very difficult to detect a “smurf” (a player of higher skill using an alternate account to match against lower skilled opponents) we still feel that we can make some positive improvements in this area.

First, we will be disallowing Steam “Family Sharing” accounts from queueing for Competitive playlists if they do not own a full copy of the game. While this will not prevent determined players from using “alt accounts”, it will at least make it less trivial on PC.

Second, in a subsequent update after Season 3 launches, we will place restrictions on how parties queue for Competitive play. When a party is formed, the difference in each player’s Competitive skill tier will be measured. You will be prevented from queueing as a party for any playlist in which that skill difference is too great. We currently plan to set a maximum difference of three skill tiers – roughly the size of an entire skill group (Challenger I -> Challenger Elite).

For example, if you’re a Rising Star (Tier 9), you could play with a friend in Challenger II (Tier 6), or a friend in Superstar (Tier 12), but you won’t be able to play with both at the same time — as the overall skill difference for that party would be 6 tiers.

We recognize that this may negatively impact some groups of players who want to play together in Competitive, but ultimately, we believe that it’s an important change that will appropriately preserve our competitive environment. We also think that Casual playlists are the right place for parties with such wildly-varied ratings to be, though we will continue to listen closely to your feedback as the season wears on.

Hey everyone! Our next update at the end of June will also mark the conclusion of Season 2 and the beginning of Season 3. Of course, we’ll announce a more specific date as we get closer to launch, but in the meantime, we wanted to let you know what you can expect to see in terms of rewards based on your highest-reached competitive skill tier:

• Prospect I or higher – Season 2 Prospect Rocket Trail
• Challenger I or higher – Season 2 Challenger Rocket Trail
• Rising Star or higher – Season 2 Star Rocket Trail
• Champion or higher – Season 2 Champion Rocket Trail
• Grand Champion – “Season 2 Grand Champion” Title

NOTE: You will also receive the rewards for all skill tiers below your highest. For example, a player who reached “Rising Star” will receive the Season 2 Star, Challenger, and Prospect Rocket Trails. Enjoy these sneak preview GIFs that show them off:

PROSPECT ROCKET TRAIL:

CHALLENGER ROCKET TRAIL:

RISING STAR ROCKET TRAIL:

CHAMPION ROCKET TRAIL:


SEASON 3
With the beginning of the new Competitive Season, we have some larger changes planned that we wanted to share in advance of its launch:

SKILL WIPE
As the first year of competitive Rocket League draws to a close, it’s an ideal time for a clean slate. With this in mind, we will push a full Skill Rating wipe for all competitive playlists, while also watching how the skill curve shakes out without legacy data from previous seasons.
We recognize that a full reset will not solve all of the concerns raised during Season 2, but the wipe will give us valuable data to analyze as we move forward. For Grand Champion players in particular, we want to observe how the top ranks settle before deciding how to approach past complaints about stagnation and rank climbing.

SMURFING
We will also take steps in Season 3 to curb some of the “smurfing” issues seen in previous seasons. While it is ultimately very difficult to detect a “smurf” (a player of higher skill using an alternate account to match against lower skilled opponents) we still feel that we can make some positive improvements in this area.

First, we will be disallowing Steam “Family Sharing” accounts from queueing for Competitive playlists if they do not own a full copy of the game. While this will not prevent determined players from using “alt accounts”, it will at least make it less trivial on PC.

Second, in a subsequent update after Season 3 launches, we will place restrictions on how parties queue for Competitive play. When a party is formed, the difference in each player’s Competitive skill tier will be measured. You will be prevented from queueing as a party for any playlist in which that skill difference is too great. We currently plan to set a maximum difference of three skill tiers – roughly the size of an entire skill group (Challenger I -> Challenger Elite).

For example, if you’re a Rising Star (Tier 9), you could play with a friend in Challenger II (Tier 6), or a friend in Superstar (Tier 12), but you won’t be able to play with both at the same time — as the overall skill difference for that party would be 6 tiers.

We recognize that this may negatively impact some groups of players who want to play together in Competitive, but ultimately, we believe that it’s an important change that will appropriately preserve our competitive environment. We also think that Casual playlists are the right place for parties with such wildly-varied ratings to be, though we will continue to listen closely to your feedback as the season wears on.

When we first introduced the casual Rocket Labs playlist earlier this year, we promised additional arenas that would be introduced over time for inclusion in the rotation. Now we’re making good on that guarantee with “Pillars” in June!

Available in the Rocket Labs playlist for both Online and offline Exhibition play, the visual aesthetic for “Pillars” will continue its tipped hat towards virtual-reality — only this time, with a gameplay emphasis on using multiple walls to your advantage. As you can tell from the screenshots, the “Pillars” title will be quite literal since two huge uprights loom over the middle of the arena.

These pillars separate the arena into three lanes, with the goals on each side lining up the center lane. Banking shots off the tall columns in the middle of the arena makes for some incredible moments and driving up the walls and flying down on the competition feels just right.

Stay tuned for more reveals centered around our June update in the coming weeks via @RocketLeague or Facebook!

When we first introduced the casual Rocket Labs playlist earlier this year, we promised additional arenas that would be introduced over time for inclusion in the rotation. Now we’re making good on that guarantee with “Pillars” in June!

Available in the Rocket Labs playlist for both Online and offline Exhibition play, the visual aesthetic for “Pillars” will continue its tipped hat towards virtual-reality — only this time, with a gameplay emphasis on using multiple walls to your advantage. As you can tell from the screenshots, the “Pillars” title will be quite literal since two huge uprights loom over the middle of the arena.

These pillars separate the arena into three lanes, with the goals on each side lining up the center lane. Banking shots off the tall columns in the middle of the arena makes for some incredible moments and driving up the walls and flying down on the competition feels just right.

Stay tuned for more reveals centered around our June update in the coming weeks via @RocketLeague or Facebook!

Today’s the day!

As we promised in March, cross-network play for the Xbox One and Steam PC versions of Rocket League will officially roll-out later this afternoon by 3pm PT/ 6pm ET/ 10pm UTC, making it the first-ever Xbox One game to support cross-network play with a Steam PC game.

Nearly 2 million Xbox One players have already competed in Rocket League since we launched in February 2016, but with today’s new cross-network update, your potential pool of teammates and opponents will grow even larger!

It’s an historic moment for us here at Psyonix, and we’re really excited to bring Xbox One and Steam PC players closer together. Cross-network play has been something that Xbox One gamers have been asking us for since the day we launched, and thanks to Microsoft’s new cross-network policies, we’re proud to give it to them.

Enjoy the new feature — and remember — you can toggle cross-network play on or off with an easy-to-find check box in the Options menu (see a preview below). Have fun!



Note: Online matchmaking services may not be available until the patch has fully deployed.

Today’s the day!

As we promised in March, cross-network play for the Xbox One and Steam PC versions of Rocket League will officially roll-out later this afternoon by 3pm PT/ 6pm ET/ 10pm UTC, making it the first-ever Xbox One game to support cross-network play with a Steam PC game.

Nearly 2 million Xbox One players have already competed in Rocket League since we launched in February 2016, but with today’s new cross-network update, your potential pool of teammates and opponents will grow even larger!

It’s an historic moment for us here at Psyonix, and we’re really excited to bring Xbox One and Steam PC players closer together. Cross-network play has been something that Xbox One gamers have been asking us for since the day we launched, and thanks to Microsoft’s new cross-network policies, we’re proud to give it to them.

Enjoy the new feature — and remember — you can toggle cross-network play on or off with an easy-to-find check box in the Options menu (see a preview below). Have fun!



Note: Online matchmaking services may not be available until the patch has fully deployed.