Rocket League Needs To Be The Next Big eSport

You may have seen a flood of highlight reels and slow motion GIFs of Rocket League cars smashing into each other and scoring unbelievable goals lately. There’s a reason for that. Rocket League is insanely fun to watch and play.

The world of eSports is currently on the rise and there are plenty of popular titles out there for gamers to watch, but the general public still seems a bit apathetic about the whole scene. As someone who just recently got his hands and eyes on Rocket League I can assure you I’ve never been so entertained in all my life. No wonder this beast has such a following. I knew the game was popular, but I had somehow avoided seeing most of it’s best moments until now.

The best part of Rocket League, at least from an outsider perspective is that it’s easy to understand and follow. It’s rocket powered cars playing soccer, the most popular sport in the world. Cars fly through the air and try to knock a huge glowing ball into a goal. It’s not hard to put together. Even those who claim to despise watching gaming sit with bated breath as my rocket cars careens out of control. It’s hard to not get invested, even for someone without a gaming background. Rocket League does a great job of getting players and viewers hyped over the smallest things. Even missed shots are guaranteed a “Did you see that?” moment.

I’ll admit that I get a bit lost after watching professionals play through their thousandth MOBA match, and I have a pretty good grasp on what’s supposed to be happening. I can only imagine what someone new to the world of eSports is thinking in this regard. And you may say, “But those games are still really popular, despite the high learning curve,” and you wouldn’t be wrong. Every game and scene has it’s fans. It just seems that a lot of people could and should get behind Rocket League as a big time eSport. It’s got the legs and the simplistic core gameplay to being in plenty of new fans.

Not only is it fun to watch, Rocket League is one of those games that’s incredibly simple to get the hang of, but difficult to master. There are plenty of times you’ll find yourself turning to your friend to say, “Did you know you could do that?” with a stupid grin playing across your face. It’s one of the most satisfying titles I’ve played in recent memory. Even as a scrub who can hardly score a goal, I still feel the like I’ve just won the match by pulling off a perfectly executed block or flip. Even in defeat all I can think of is how I want to improve my stats on the next go round.

So here we have a game that’s easy to pick up, entertaining as all get out, and quickly amassing a rabid fan base. Do you need much else to make it to the top of the eSports world? I hope not, because I want to see even more Rocket League in the future.

If you haven’t given the game chance yet, I think it’s time you did.

Ben Bertoli is a freelance games journalist and also runs Kotaku’s TAY Blog. Follow him on twitter @SuperBentendo if you want to see some terrible Rocket League goals.