Rocket League is one of the most beloved video games on the planet. Reports say that over 90 million people played it, with a peak of almost six million concurrent players in July 2021. This "little" free-to-play game makes more money than many AAA studios only dream about. While entirely different from Fortnite, they share the critical survival skill of morphing many other IP assets and adapting them inside the game.
Four years ago, on May 1, 2019, Epic Games bought Psyonix, the Rocket League developer. At the time, Fortnite, also owned by Epic, had been going strong for almost two years as an Early Access version.
In 2017, Rocket League raked in $70 million, and in 2018, it brought in over $110 million, according to The Sports Rush. As a frame of reference, AAA games like God of War Ragnarok reportedly cost nearly $200 million to develop nowadays, and some even more when you factor in the marketing budgets.
Not to mention GTA V (2013), which at the time was the most costly video game in history, with a combined development and marketing budget of over $265 million.
AAA studios are incredibly familiar with these high numbers because, according to former CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, Shawn Leyden, game development costs are doubling every console generation. To think God of War III from 2010 cost "only" $44 million to ship...
Getting back to our side of the road, Rocket League bringing in $100+ million yearly for a one-time development cycle is insane if you think about it. That means Epic can earn more than half the money for a AAA like God of War Ragnarok without breaking a sweat.
That's not to say Psyonix isn't hard at work upkeeping the game and bringing new content to it. But it's still a golden goose, much like Fortnite, and the "big three," Sony, Microsoft, and perhaps even Nintendo would love to strike gold with an online multiplayer title to last them for years and years.
As I was saying earlier, the key to Rocket League's survival is mainly its addictive gameplay, but most importantly, the fact that it can absorb other pop culture products like Star Wars and bring them to players in a fun way. It's not pay-to-win, so people are more than happy to pay the cost of entry to refresh their experience with car skins, liveries, etc.
This May 4, Psyionix introduced four main packs: R2-D2 (800 credits), C-3PO (500 credits), BB-8 (800 credits), and the K-2SO (500 Credits). They all look cool, but my favorite is the K-2SO because it looks like something Han Solo would drive.
All of this will go away on May 16, so there's time for you to check these out. Also, if this doesn't satisfy your Star Wars addiction, try Fortnite, for it's also strong with the Force.
Codrin just loves American classics, from the 1940s and ‘50s, all the way to the muscle cars of the '60s and '70s. In his perfect world, we'll still see Hudsons and Road Runners roaming the streets for years to come (even in EV form, if that's what it takes to keep the aesthetic alive). Full profile
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