Epic Games, the company behind the Unreal Engine and, of course, Fortnite, is set to acquire Rocket League studio Psyonix. The developer has announced the news today via its Rocket League blog, which you can read through the link.
The deal, which will be finalised by the start of June, will presumably mean Epic will take on publication duties for Rocket League and any other titles from the studio. Psyonix seems very happy with the arrangement: "Rocket League always has been and always will be a community-driven game, and now that we have joined forces with Epic, we will be able to serve our community in even bigger and better ways," it says.
With regards to how this will affect the popular soccar phenomenon, the studio says there will be no changes in the short term, and that the eSports scene will only benefit because the deal "significantly increases our potential reach and resources, just like it does for the game itself."
It's an interesting partnership. Psyonix established itself as an Unreal Engine specialist, providing its expertise on other projects before it was eventually able to start building its own games. We imagine this will give Rocket League a big cash injection -- not that it really needed one. Time will tell how this changes things, but it sounds like a positive step right now.
What do you think of this acquisition? Score an aerial goal in the comments below.
[source rocketleague.com]
Comments 38
Nooooo. Hell no.
Very negative responses from players on Twitter and Discord. I really hope this turns out positive but it's really unclear and worrying atm.
Why’s it worrying? Why don’t people like Epic? Genuine questions from a really good looking lad.
I wonder whether Psyonix is working on anything else or whether they plan on continuing to build upon a single game.
The will be a massive back lash if they try and turn rocket league into an epic store exclusive. But as fortnight is available on most platform’s that’s unlikely.
@kyleforrester87 I think they are worried that epic will treat it like Fortnite and not listen to the community on a regular basis. Obviously, it could be a simple addition of funds for Psyonix but epic may treat it like a cash cow
@kyleforrester87 People don’t like uncertainty regarding games they like. It’s not that Epic is a problem. It’s that mergers and acquisition sometimes go wrong and if a online game goes wrong it can disappear.
@IronHammersFC Hm, I don’t know much about the FN community to be honest. I read recently the devs do mad hours to keep the new content coming though. I’ve heard people don’t like the Epic store, but I don’t know why.
@Ryall but Square went from strength to strength after the Enix merg....errr wait.
I guess it kinda makes sense. Before Rocket League blew up Psyonix was billed as Unreal experts.
A person would think that if Psyonix were acquired by EA, people would be rioting, not Epic.
If it means footballers start doing Rocket League celebrations when they score I'm all for it.
Rocket League's already getting review bombed to hell and back on Steam.
@Gremio108 Comment of the Week
@kyleforrester87 Honestly, from a consumer point of view, the Epic Store gives away a free game every 2 weeks which is great. Its prices are higher as they don't have sales every 2 seconds like Steam. They also give devs a higher proportion of the profits than other stores. I don't really see the downsides tbh. I mean, I'm not under any illusions that any company aren't heartless corporations only in it for the money, that's par for the course.
Don't really see this as much of a problem.
Epic will no doubt try to get more cash flow from Rocket League - but so did Psyonix, and mostly for just cosmetic stuff that didn't change the actual game.
I wouldn't say that Rocket League has run its course, but I haven't played or thought about it in a while. Could give the player base a boom.
@nessisonett it doesn’t make sense why I’ve seen so many people talking the Epic Store down then. Perhaps it’s just a bit like the early days of Steam, man people HATED it so bad. I did too to be fair, it was so slow and unreliable as hell but the only way to play Counter-Strike!
@kyleforrester87 Oh I remember those days watching my dad play CS when Steam was terrible! I think it’s because Epic are daring to challenge Valve since they’ve now built up quite the cult of personality. If anything, it’s good for the PC crowd as it’s providing a bit of a competition. It might push Valve to maybe develop a game that isn’t CS:GO or Dota 2.
@nessisonett Half-Life 3 confirmed
@kacboy big pubs have a big problem with destroying devs and their products. While crushing consumer pockets
Can't have competition if you buy up everything..
@kyleforrester87 Seeing how they hold games hostage from other platforms i just dont trust them.
@nessisonett Making everything platform exclusive isnt really a way of competition. Its just starving the competition and when they have the big spotlight you are stuck with them.
@Flaming_Kaiser I hear you bro. Anyway I’m off to play Uncharted on my Switch.
R.I.P. Rocket League
"the studio says there will be no changes in the short term"
I read on Twitter - not reliable I know - that Rocket League was coming off Steam. I gathered that's when the negativity really blew up.
No mention of it here though so maybe a false alarm?
I'd guess they are working on a new game and epic wants it. I can't see this just for RL. Yes RL is still big but there has to be something else.
I think epic want their own games store to becomes a place to play live service multiplayer titles like fortnite and rocket league, maybe they’ll end /close the game on steam and make it free to play on EGS (Epic Games Store). They can do cross-over for skins like buying rocket league skin will gave you a special fortnite skin and vice versa.
well, this is very sad news indeed. i will give it 1 year before rocket league becomes an epic store exclusive and the psn/xbl/steam servers get shut down. ok, maybe i am getting ahead of myself here... that would hurt epic's bottom line if they did that. at the same time, considering its recent, power hungry behaviour, i wouldn't be surprised if this does happen for one reason or another.
on another note... why did psyonix feel like they wanted to go in this direction and get acquired? they gave up their independence and free will at their peak when they didn't need to...
I have no problem with this. Just like Ninja Theory, Mojang and many others, creating something that creates a following is great. Getting paid is better.
Could be good, could be bad. Too early to say. Just in case though I have review bombed it on Steam and sent a stinky poo in the post to epic.
This is another stab at Steam from Epic sometimes I think Today Sweeny is personally aiming at Steam like he's got something against it besides his rant at Steam taken more than his store. Sony and Microsoft take a lot as well they used to charge companies to release patches during the 360/PS3 gen that's just as bad. Epic store doesn't offer anything else just because it gives more to the Dev so what they already made enough already releasing half baked games as it is
@kyleforrester87 There is a difference between those but probably to hard to understand for you. 😁
A completely Sony funded game which has been made with Sony funds.
@Flaming_Kaiser that’s true, I am an idiot after all.
One popular game I am not a big fan of buying the another popular game that I am not a fan of.
I do not expect this to change my mind. lol
@kyleforrester87 My thoughts exactly. Who cares? I don't see much wrong with Epic Games in comparison to the likes of EA etc. They don't try and dress up their transactions as anything else and they're not unfair about levelling up without having to pay. People are just snobby because it's not 'cool' to like Fortnite I imagine. Well, my 8 year old son absolutely loves it, doesn't spend any money on it, chats to his friends whilst playing it so I have no problem with it whatsoever.
@IronHammersFC Epic keep Fortnite VERY up to date with new content from what I've seen from my son playing it. That is one thing I don't think people can level at them.
@kyleforrester87 I know one of the things people dislike about the epic games store is that it doesn't have a review system
@kyleforrester87 Missing lots of features, accessing private Steam files which even the Epic CEO called shady but necessary, not enough games, pulling games from other stores with their exclusivity deals, lying on numerous occasions. There are many legitimate reasons why people dislike the Epic store.
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