First the Division 2, then Borderlands 3 (for 6 months), and now Rocket League (forever). Epic Games is on the war path of acquiring games and making them exclusive to their own store.
Earlier today, the Psyonix, the developer behind Rocket League, announced that they have been acquired (or in the process of) by Epic Games, making Rocket League the next in line to join the Epic Games Store as an exclusive title.
Up until recently, PC gamers have been quite vocal about how Epic Games is handling their online store. Sure, many do not like the fact that multiple launchers can be quite cumbersome and possibly create some desktop clutter, but the larger issue is EG’s lack of features and security in their store.
Below is a infograph that fans have pieced together detailing what they are missing out on by having to go to the EGS, should they choose to (many, like myself, have opted not to in an attempt to boycott this business practice).
You will note that there is practically no comparison between Valve’s Steam and EG’s own gaming platforms.
The reason so many publishers and developers are very quick to make the jump to the EGS, is that Epic promises developers a larger return, up to 80% of the profits from a purchase, whereas Valve may only offer 60% in some cases.
Sure, this makes financial sense from the dev/pubs perspective, but at the cost of so much, including safety and security, it kind of makes you wonder what is really being given up here and what is costing more beyond just a monetary gain.
Anyway, should you be one of the many who have purchased Rocket League on Steam, have no fear. The game is not being taken down. You simply just cant purchase it if you have not already on the Valve platform and will be forced to use the EGS instead.
Regardless of your views, and there are a wide variety of emotions on this topic, it is quite telling how many are choosing to vocalize their opinions.
Here is the full transcript of their post regarding the acquisition:
Today is a big day for us here at Psyonix because, just as the headline says, we’re officially joining the Epic Games family.
Your first question to news like this might be, “What does this mean for Rocket League and its community?” We’re happy to say that the answers are only positive. 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!
We understand that you might have additional questions about this new relationship, which is why we’ve assembled this quick FAQ to answer some of your initial Qs:
“No, really. What does this mean for Rocket League?”
In the short term, nothing will change at all! We’re still committed to providing Rocket League with frequent updates that have new features, new content, and new ways to play the game for as long as you’ll have us.
In the long-term, we expect to bring Rocket League to the Epic Games store and to leverage our new relationship to grow the game in ways we couldn’t do on our own before. We believe that bringing Rocket League to new audiences with more support is a win for everybody.
“Does this mean the gameplay will be different?”
Nope!
“What does this mean for the Rocket League Esports ecosystem?”
We think this is a great move for the Rocket League Esports ecosystem because it significantly increases our potential reach and resources, just like it does for the game itself. We really do believe that you’ll find our future in esports to be very exciting — especially in the near future, where on June 21-23 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) finals will end our 7th season with a bang!
“What happens to the Psyonix team?”
We are the same team that we’ve always been, only now, we have the power and experience of Epic Games behind us!
One last thing before we go…
The success of Rocket League would not have been possible without you, our community. Your loyalty, excitement, and creativity in supporting Psyonix has helped us become who we are, and we look forward to you helping us for many more years to come. You have our sincerest thanks and appreciation.
Respectfully,
The Psyonix Team
[Psyonix] Editor’s Note: We wanted to clarify something for you after today’s news: Rocket League is and remains available on Steam. Anyone who owns Rocket League through Steam can still play it and can look forward to continued support. Thanks!
NOTE: This transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions. Epic and Psyonix currently expect to close the acquisition near the end of May to early June 2019.
