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Rocket League Adding Seasonal Arena, User-Created Tournaments, And More
Psyonix has detailed the next update, as well as a long-term roadmap, for its popular car soccer game Rocket League. In the immediate future, players will enjoy new seasonal and standardized arenas, LAN support, and over 90 free items.
The Autumn Update begins with a seemingly small change that Psyonix says has been a big ask within its community: transparent goal posts. This change, which affects every map in the game and can be toggled on and off, is meant to increase awareness for competitors playing the goalie position. In addition, all non-standard arenas are being converted to a rectangular shape for competitive play. Non-standard shapes will still be available in private and less traditional game modes.
Players are also receiving a new seasonal arena on rotation. For the fall season, players can compete in Farmstead, set on a beautiful countryside as the leaves turn to their autumn colors. The update also introduces a beta for Director mode, which helps Rocket League become more watchable. Director mode provides players with an A.I.-powered camera that predicts goals, shots, saves, and assists, and cuts to that player. Psyonix also put in measures to prevent the camera from cutting away too quickly as to not disorient viewers.
With the Autumn Update, players can look forward to obtaining over 90 free items to deck out their cars with. From an avocado with a face on it to dragon wings, players can show off their personality more than ever. In addition, the Autumn Update is adding LAN support for PC players. Through LAN play, you can host parties and local tournaments. The feature is planned to come to other platforms at a later date.
Psyonix also shared its long-term roadmap for Rocket League with us. In addition to the seasonal arena that the Autumn Update brings, Rocket League will begin implementing limited time events. New items called Decryptors, which can be earned through events, act as free keys that can be used to open crates without buying them. In addition, PC players can look forward to testing a party functionality shortly after the Autumn Update releases.
The big addition Pysonix is planning, however, is a new in-game tournaments feature. Through this new system, players can host anywhere from 8 to 128 teams in bracket-style tournaments. All game modes are supported, but if you're looking to compete in a specific way, you can filter to find the right tournament. To incentivize participation, Psyonix will hand out item rewards to competitors. This functionality is coming to Steam as a beta in the late fall, but if all goes well, it will expand to other platforms afterward.
Rocket League's Autumn Update is scheduled to hit on September 28, while the rest of the features in the long-term roadmap will roll out at later dates.
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