Rocket League 2 Is Unlikely, As Dev Focusing On Games-As-A-Service Instead

Rocket League has been one of gaming's biggest success stories of the past few years. Launched in July 2015, the game has 45 million registered players by developer Psyonix's latest count, with between 6 million and 7 million people playing every month. Given the game's huge success, you might be wondering if a sequel is coming. It's not, at least not anytime soon, according to game director Scott Rudi.

Rudi, who joined Psyonix earlier this year, told GameSpot in an interview that the studio is focused on treating Rocket League like a platform. The studio is pouring resources into supporting the game with new content instead of making a full-on sequel.

"That's preferable to do; games-as-a-service," Rudi said. "The most valuable thing in our game is our fans. A lot of the stuff we do is focused on keeping them with us. Keeping them interested and all hyped up about our game. We want to provide a really good experience [for players] to have fun with for years to come."

He added: "We want to keep this going. I don't know what I'd do with Rocket League 2. I'd rather do more to expand the existing Rocket League. It's doing great, there is a lot ahead of it. So yeah, we have no plans for Rocket League 2."

Rudi's comments match up with what Psyonix executive Jeremy Dunham said in March 2017. At the time, he said, "Why would we want to take this huge community that we've already built, that's still growing, and say, 'What you're playing now is going to be irrelevant in 12 months, but we want you to stop what you're doing, giving us money all over again, and move over to this other game." Dunham said that way of thinking in games is coming to an end.

As it relates to ongoing support for Rocket League, Psyonix is kicking off a third anniversary event on July 9. This will introduce a new 3v3 Anniversary playlist and a Happy Birthday topper to collect, among other things. Additionally, Psyonix recently announced a Rocket Pass offering that you can buy to unlock new content over time. It is part of Psyonix's ongoing effort to keep people in the game and having a fun time.

Another part of what keeps players coming back to Rocket League is the new licensed cars that you can buy. Just recently, Psyonix released the Jurassic World Jeep, while previously launched licensed content has included vehicles like the Batmobile and the DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future. Rudi told GameSpot that you can expect even more licensed cars for Rocket League in the future.

As with games like Fortnite and others, the extra content you can buy with real money in Rocket League is cosmetic only in nature and does not impact gameplay. This is important because it keeps the playing field level, Rudi said.

"Monetising or adding systems that would imbalance that is not right for us," he said. "I'm sure for other games it makes sense, but for us, it's not just what we're about," Rudi said. "We want to keep it pure, keep it clean, and let player skill and teamwork rule the day."

Rocket League originally launched in July 2015 for PS4 and PC, before coming to Xbox One in 2016, and then to Nintendo Switch in 2017.