‘Rocket League’ Devs Talk Xbox One Release, Match Player Counts

Rocket League will blast on to the Xbox One this week after spending much of the past year tearing up the PlayStation 4 and PC as an indie breakout hit. Developers Psyonix sat down for a podcast with Xbox LIVE’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb, where they explained why it took so long for the soccer meets demolition derby game to hit the console and if they will ever increase the max player count past eight.

Rocket League has been one of the surprise gaming successes over the past year. The game currently has more than 11 million players between with the PlayStation 4 and PC, and Psyonix is looking to add more with the Xbox One release this week. Many owners of Microsoft’s console have wondered what took the game so long to reach their platform.

“We hope it means a lot to the Xbox One owners. Since we have announced it a lot of people, especially from the Xbox One fan side, have really hounding us to bring it to the system. And we always wanted to,” Psyonix Vice President Jeremy Dunham said during the Major Nelson podcast. “The only reason we couldn’t is because we are a small team. So we had to go with one platform at a time.”

As previously covered by the Inquisitr, Psyonix received help from fellow game development studio Panic Button to help bring Rocket League to the Xbox One.

“With their help and expertise, we were able to bring Rocket League to XB1 with a high level of performance and fidelity,” Dunham stated on Xbox Wire.

Rocket League currently supports matches with 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4 matchups for online and offline play. Could that be expanded in the future?

“We experimented with larger player counts but it’s too crazy,” Dunham revealed. “Maybe one day we’ll revisit it if we ever decide to go with bigger stadiums. But for now, more than 4v4 we think takes a little bit away from the enjoyment of the game; it gets a little too crazy.”

Rocket League will launch itself on to the Xbox One on Wednesday, February 17, for $19.99 with the following three DLC packs bundled in for free.

• “Supersonic Fury” – Two Premium Battle-Cars, 12 Decals, 5 Paint types, 2 Rocket Trails, 2 Wheels
• “Revenge of the Battle-Cars” – Two Premium Battle-Cars, 12 Decals, 3 Paint types, 2 Rocket Trails, 2 Wheels, 4 Toppers, 2 Antennas
• “Chaos Run” – Two Premium Battle-Cars, 12 Decals, 2 Wheels, 2 Rocket Trails, 3 Toppers, 3 Antennas

Additionally, Xbox One owners that purchase Rocket League will receive the “Armadillo” vehicle from Gears of War, and a Halo Warthog variant named “HogSticker,” as previously covered by the Inquisitr. Several Garage items will also be available as free console exclusives, such as the Fizzie antenna and Overcharge Rocket Trail, based on Sunset Overdrive.

Rocket League Season 2 makes changes to how ranked play works in the game, as previously reported. Ranked play will be named “Competitive Matchmaking” in Rocket League Season 2 to clearly differentiate between casual matchmaking in the playlists. Additionally, Rank Points are being removed in favor of standing being determined by players’ in-game Skill Rating.

The Skill Rating will determine which division Rocket League competitive players will be placed in. Psyonix has scrapped the existing Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum division with an all-new system. Players will be required to play 10 competitive matches when Season 2 starts to determine their skill rating, and place them in one of the following titles and divisions.

[Image via Psyonix]

The new ranking system has caused some confusion among first season players on the PlayStation and PC. Xbox One owners will likely see less confusion since the game is fresh, and won’t take a previous season’s activity into account.

[Image via Rocket League]