Psyonix teased a first look at the next era of Rocket League during the Rocket League Paris Major this past weekend, revealing a graphical overhaul and a jump to Unreal Engine 6 (yes, 6).
The Rocket League revamp sure is shiny, with the glimpse of a stadium showing carefully manicured grass under the floodlights, before some pristine and reflective cars roll and boost into view.
Perhaps most significant, though, could be the hint that Rocket League will become a part of Fortnite, or perhaps more accurately, a broader “metaverse” rebrand. At one point in the teaser a text box has the input verse://rocketleague.com. That’s not a thing on the open internet, but the graphic shows Rocket League alongside Fortnite, LEGO, Disney and Marvel imagery.
There’s a concern about how this will be handled for gamers, whether Rocket League will simply join the playlist of modes within Fortnite and be subject to the marketing push of the day for being easily found, or if it will remain a standalone title. I guess we expect it to take cues from Rocket Racing in that regard.
Similarly, how scalable with Unreal Engine 6 be? And if this will require the full Fortnite download in order to play, how much bigger will the game install be? Rocket League has remained a low-end gaming delight and it would be a shame if anyone is left behind.
Heck, will the old Rocket League continue to run and be playable?
There’s a lot to wonder about, but one major upside would be that Rocket League’s assets would filter into Epic’s Fortnite and Unreal Engine creation tools for easy community modding and creations. Expect some classic SARPBC maps to be remade with all their funky layouts.
The announcement shows that Epic is still committed to Rocket League. The game launched all the way back in 2015, and was a smash hit that year, the studio eventually being acquired by Epic Games in 2019 with all the Fortnite money they were making at the time. While some things have changed since then – the game went free-to-play in 2020 – but a major game engine shift felt like a long-held pipe dream. Skipping from Unreal Engine 3 all the way to Unreal Engine 6, and being the first game announced with it, is pretty significant.
