RCD Espanyol have officially parted ways with its Rocket League roster earlier this Monday, announcing that the organisation will instead focus on other esports titles in the future.

The announcement comes after the conclusion of the European Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) Season 9 Promotion Playoffs, where RCD Espanyol, Endpoint, Karen and Solarity where chasing one of the two tickets leading to RLCS Season 10. The promotion playoffs concluded earlier yesterday, with Solarity and Endpoint securing the top two seeds, while ex-RCD Espanyol's roster began their venture wit a commanding 4-0 win over ex-TSM roster, but later fell flat against Solarity (3-4) and later Endpoint (2-4).

With this announcement, March "Stake" Bosch, Samuel "Zamué" Cortés, Damian "Tox" Schaefer, Ibrahim "Wolf." Ben and coach Francisco "Arleyobi" González are all left without an organisation and have since teamed up under a name Stonkers. Having said that, Endpoint's professional player Nelson “Virtuoso” Lasko unveiled that the Spanish players saw their contracts with RDC's roster ran out on March 31, which suggests the four players and coach were most likely in talks with the organisation for a potential extension of their contracts under a condition of a successful run through the RLCS Season 9 – Europe: Promotion Playoffs. That, eventually fell through, as ex-RDC Espanyol roster failed to secure a top-two seed.

Virtuoso shed some more light on the situation of RCD and its member in a Reddit post, where he explained that the Spanish team were participating at the event under Espanyol's banner although they were not under a contract.

"RCD's contracts have ended 12 days ago, they are not signed with any org," said Virtuoso.

"Also RCD is a very dodgy org (they were dodgy when offering us as well and also another big Spanish org) like most Spanish organisations.

"Tox signed the contract while he is 16 and RCD didn't even ask his parents to co sign which meant that his contract was not legally binding. On the broadcast they will still play with Espanyol which is why this is an issue with RCD.

"I hope they can just let them play though under a different name or just ex RCD. This is nothing about Tox's mess that happened last week."

It's also worth noting that prior to the organisation's official announcement, RDC Espanyol's former Digital Manager Laureà Folch asked Rocket League developer and tournament organiser Psyonix to remove the former-RCD roster from the promotion playoffs.

"The sector needs, more than ever, all the "actors" to be up to the task, but when the players, often inexperienced, do not act with the principles they are expected to have, it must be the publisher who puts on the board that, above all, there are values, principles and ethics that everyone should have and respect," said Mr Folch.

"Can you imagine a team, of any discipline, from any sector, playing all season under some colours, representing a Team and playing the promotion phase representing another Team and with other colours? Never!

"Under no circumstances should gamers that have represented the RCD Espanyol de Barcelona in the RLRS play the promotional tournament for the RLCS tomorrow."

Folch addressed the need to keep "principles and ethics" in mind when Psyonix lets rosters who have left a team during an event continue to compete, which became common practice within esports. Just like in Dota2 and CS:GO, if a team that is not sponsored qualifies for a big event, it's more likely that the roster will get sponsored and signed by an organisation, in a bid to get a direct spot at the said event.

It remains to be seen what will happen with the ex-RDC roster (now Stonkers), however, with a third-place finish under their belt, they are now set to compete at the RLCS Season 10 – Europe: Rocket League Rival Series, set to kick off later this year.

Attending the event are AS Monaco Esports, Karen (Ex-TSM), Notorious Legion Esports, RJM, Triple Trouble, Stonkers and four additional Rocket League teams, who will earn their spot at the event via Play-In stage. The LCS Season 10 – Europe: Rocket League Rival Series will award the top team with a ticket for RLCS Season 11, second and third-placed teams with a spot at Promotion playoffs, while fourth-sixth placed teams earn a spot at the RLCS Season 11: RLRS.

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Psyonix announced an online format for its Rocket League competition, in a bid to keep the show going amid the COVID-19 outbreak, which has put most of the esports scene at a halt or ushered online leagues.

Following the announcement of the cancellation of Rocket League Season 9 World Championship, the Rocket League community was left in dark in regards of the future of its competitive scene, up until this Sunday, March 29, when Psyonix announced an online Rocket League competition, which is set to begin in April and US $300,000 in prize pool.

The newly announced RL competition, dubbed Rocket League Spring Series is a series of tournaments, which will include teams from four major RLCS regions: Europe, North America Oceania and South America. Each region will have its own open qualifiers tournament, featuring only the best RLCS teams in the world who will duke it out for the spot at the main event.

The Online qualifiers will begin in April with South American qualifiers, followed by North American, Oceanic and European qualifiers. Each region will also host its own tournament, as to prevent any connectivity issues that come with online tournaments.

Dates for each tournament and open qualifiers:

Open qualifiers:

• South America: Open Qualifiers on April 14-15
• North America: Open Qualifiers on April 21-22
• Oceania: Open Qualifiers on April 28-29
• Europe: Open Qualifiers on May 5-6

Spring Series:

• South America: Spring Series on April 18-19
• North America: Spring Series on April 25-26
• Oceania: Spring Series on May 2-3
• Europe: Spring Series on May 9-10

The idea behind Rocket League Spring Series is to award teams that would have made it to the cancelled World Championship, while also maintaining the openness that has been a hallmark of competitive Rocket League since its inception.

Format:

• Eight teams will compete in each tournament.
• Top four teams from each region0s Season 9 Regional Championship will automatically qualify and have preferential seeding.
• The remaining four spots will be filled by teams who will fight their way through Open Qualifiers, held before each regional tournament.
• Each tournament will feature a double-elimination bracket played out over two days of RL action.
• All fixtures will be played as best-of-five (Bo5), except for the Loser's Bracket Finals, Winner's Bracket Finals and the Grand finals, which will be played as Bo7.

Prize pool:

• Europe: $125,000
• North America: $125,000
• Oceania: $50,000
• South America: $50,000

The Rocket League Spring Series, however, is only one of many online tournaments Psyonix is working on since the developers decided to start providing top-tier online regional tournaments in a bid to keep the Rocket League's competitive scene alive and running during the ongoing pandemic, which at the time of writing already has well over 700,000 confirmed cases worldwide.

The Spring Series will also be a testing ground for further events like it, meaning we could be expecting some experimental stuff during the broadcast as well as in the format of the competition itself.

The Rocket League Spring Series will be streamed at the same platforms where the fans usually got to watch Rocket League esports action, meaning the broadcasts will be available at both official Rocket League Twitch and YouTube channels. The start times for each tournament will however differ.

Rocket League Spring Series Broadcast dates and time:

• South America: April 18-19, show begins at 7:30 a.m. PDT (2:30 p.m. UTC) each day
• North America: April 25-26, show begins at 11:30 a.m. PDT (6:30 p.m. UTC) each day
• Oceania: May 2-3, show begins at 6:30 p.m. PDT (1:30 a.m. UTC) each day
• Europe: May 9-10, show begins at 8:30 a.m. PDT (3:30 p.m. UTC) each day

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Since COVID-19 outbreak turned into a global pandemic, social distancing and staying at home has become a new way to live, which ushered many individuals to seek entertainment in playing video games, so it should not come off as a surprise many game titles saw its player base grow significantly over the course of last few months, and Rocket League is no exception.

Just recently Counter-Strike: Global Offensive set a new milestone, by reaching 1,000,000 concurrent players, which marked its highest player count since the game's release, while other game titles such as Dota2 finally saw an increase in their numbers. More and more people seemingly seeking refuge in playing games in these dire hours of our civilization as COVID-19 continues to spread across the globe, forcing everyone to stay at home and avoid getting infected.

Joining the club of video games that are reaching new heights in their player base is Rocket League, which has reached nearly 500,000 peak players across all platforms this Thursday, as revealed by SVP of Rocket League Game Development Cory Davis in his Tweet, which showed a picture of 485,197 online players.

The spike saw Rocket League jump to top-10 most played games on Steam. The platform continues to see around 18 million average users per day since the coronavirus pandemic, while CS:GO continues to lead the charge as the most played game with 451.275 current players and 1,100,244 peak players.

The 485,197 Rocket League players include players from all platforms, while on Steam alone, Rocket League peaked at 119,124 and sees an average of 44,915 players, which is the highest number the game has seen since its release in summer of 2015. Its player base numbers are also directly correlated with the game's impressive growth by over 10% over the past month, yet, the biggest spike in players came in December 2019, when Rocket League gained 22.92% player base, which catapulted its peak players from 60,075 to 80,213, while its average player number increased from 32,520 to 39,973.

Although Rocket League saw an immense growth over the past couple of months, the game has steadily held over 30,000 average users since September 2016, dropping below the 30k milestone only twice since. Since the turn of the year, however, Rocket League has seen over 40,000 average players. Before March's 119,124 peak, Rocket League's best month was April 2016, when it saw 102,684 players playing the game.

It's worth noting the numbers only apply to Steam, meaning it does not include players that play the game from other platforms, where the numbers are significantly higher, seeing how Corey Davis pointed out the game has reached 485,197 players, which is over four times as much as the number displayed on the Steamcharts, as it includes players who play on PC, as well as those who enjoy Rocket League on PlayStation 4, XboX One and Nintendo Switch.

Although impressive numbers for Rocket League, it's highly unlikely it will ever reach the player base of CS:GO, Dota2, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege and Grand Theft Auto V, which are the top-five most played games on Steam as of March 2020. Nonetheless, it's safe to say Rocket League has a very bright future ahead.

Rocket League's player base record numbers can also be attributed to the recently unveiled Rocket Pass 6, which was released earlier on Wednesday. The update introduced new cybernetic supercar, new series of cosmetics, as well as hundreds of credits, which are awarded to premium players, who progress through the 70 tiers.

Rocket Pass 6 is divided into two different tracks. All players are eligible for Psyonix's gift, while premium players who acquire the pass also gain a large series of cosmetics and perks, which includes Ronin car.

The pass costs 1,000 in-game credits, however, as with any battle pass system in other games, players can earn those credits back by progressing through all the tiers. Reaching the 110th tier will award the players all 1,000 in-game credits back, alongside all rewards that will get unlocked on the way. What's more, by purchasing the Battle Pass, players get 50% increased experience gain at the end of all matches, alongside bonuses for playing in a party.

Some of the rewards players can gain by progressing through tiers are two universal black market decals, new goal explosions, three variants of Ronin supercar as well as painted variants of items for every tier after 70th.

Rocket Pass 6 will be live from March 25 to July 15, which means the players have just under three months to progress through all 110 tiers and unlock their rewards, as well as earn back their 1,000 in-game credits they have spent for unlocking the pass.

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Team SoloMid announced the signing of Joonas "Mognus" Salo and coach Nicolai "Snaski" Vistesen Andersen to their Rocket League team, who will help the North American organization in their venture into Rocket League Championship Series Season 9, set to kick off on February 1, 2020.

The announcement surfaced this Saturday, January 11, on TSM's Twitter page, where the NA organization unveiled Mognus and Snaski as replacements for Yanis "Alpha54" Champenois and coach Jake "Jake" Edwards, who left the team at the start of the month.

https://twitter.com/TSM/status/1216041522812026881

Mognus has started his career as a professional Rocket League player in June 2016, when he joined Cow Nose. There he played alongside Hampus "Zensuz" Öberg and 2017 RLCS S7 – Europe champion Niels "Nielskoek" Kok. Later he played for Aeriality, ProficiencyHQ, Secrecy, Resonant Esports, Element, Method, Run'n'Hide and most recently for Complexity Gaming.

Throughout his career, Mognus has seen a fair amount of success in Rocket League tournaments, with his biggest achievement to date coming in November 2017, when he finished second at RLCS Season 4 – Finals with Method. A year later, Mognus also claimed a bronze medal at RLCS Season 5 – Finals while playing for Complexity. Last season alone, Mognus finished second at RLCS Season 7 – Europe: RLRS, third-fourth at DreamHack Pro Circuit: Valencia 2019 and in November finished eighth at RLCS Season 8 – Europe.

Mognus also ended on the podium twice at the World Cup and finished second at 2017 League of Rockets World Cup with Finland, where he played alongside now-retired Joni "JZR" Humaloja and Otto "Metsanauris" Kaipiainen, who will be his new teammate at TSM.

With Metsanauris, Mognus also reached the Grand Finals of the NBC 2v2 tournament back in 2017, which Mognus claims to be the proudest achievement of his career, so it's nice to see he got a chance to reunite with his friend and former teammate.

Mognus’ Twitter post following the announcement read:

"I've now officially joined TSM! I'm thrilled to join such a legendary organisation and unite once again with my Finnish brotherman Metsanauris. We both have come a long way during our careers, we started the road together and I hope we can end it together as well."

Playing alongside the Finnish duo and leading the team will be the experienced TSM's captain Remco "remkoe" den Boer.

Snaski, who was assigned as TSM's new coach entered the Rocket League competitive scene back in December 2015 when he teamed up with Supersonic Avengers. He later played for REUNITED, The Leftovers and Fnatic where he spent most of his career. In January 2019, Snaski joined Vikings, where he remained for barely two months before he got acquired by Dignitas as their new head coach.

After four months as Dignitas head coach, Snaski made one last appearance in the scene as a player with Complexity, where he played alongside Mognus for five months, until the organization decided to release their roster on December 9, 2019. Now the duo will re-join at TSM, where they will look to cause some damage in the scene and help TSM establish themselves as one of the best Rocket League teams in the world.

"I am very proud that I got the chance to represent TSM," said Snaski.

"I grew up watching TSM take over the League of Legends scene, and helping esports become what it is today. I truly hope that I can help push the Rocket League team to reach the standard of the name TSM."

TSM entered the Rocket League professional scene on January 4, 2019, when the organization acquired We Dem Girlz roster, which fielded Jordan "EyeIgnite" Stellon, remkoe and Metsanauris. Despite the trio's success in 2018, when they won ELEAGUE Cup 2018: Rocket League and finished third in RLCS Season 6 – Finals, remkoe and co. couldn't find any stability while playing under TSM banner.

In August, TSM released EyeIgnite and replaced him with Alpha54, but even that did not help the team reach any notable results. In European RLCS, TSM finished sixth in Season 7 and seventh in Season 8. Their best result in 2019 came at DreamHack Pro Circuit: Dallas 2019, where TSM finished second. That being said, there are a lot of reasons for TSM fans to look forward to 2020 season with optimism.

The arrival of Snaski and Mognus, will add a lot of quality to TSM, who seem set to compete for top spots in RCLS. Mognus is a very talented and experienced player, while Snaski is not a pushover in that department either. Throughout his four-year-long career as a professional RL player, Snaski has established himself as an excellent player, who specialises in defence, especially goalkeeping, which is exactly what TSM needed, considering they were known for their lacklustre defence last season.

The first test for TSM's new roster will come this February when Rocket League Championship Series Season 9 begins. The tournament will feature 10 teams, who will compete for a spot in the RLCS Season 9 Finals and the lion's share of $313,973.60

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The new Blueprint update arrived today in Rocket League to near-universal criticism from fans. Not only did the update not satisfy the community, but developers Psyonix implemented their replacement for crates. A while back, it was announced that traditional loot crates would no longer be sold in Rocket League. Today, crates were completely removed from the game with the Blueprint update. However, what replaced it is so much worse. 

The new Item Shop in Rocket League

While Rocket League has had somewhat of an Item Shop in the past, this new version is one of the only ways to earn cosmetic items. Psyonix decided to follow in the footsteps of Fortnite, with an Item Shop updated regularly featuring all kinds of items. 

Though this sounds harmless enough, the prices are infuriating the Rocket League community. Many items seem drastically overpriced; a paint job like Wet Paint costs 2,000 credits (20 keys). While some fans will still buy the items, a majority of the community is boycotting the store until Psyonix lowers their prices. 

This system was supposed to be more consumer-friendly than the loot crate system. Purchasing crates was essentially gambling your money and that’s starting to get outlawed in many countries. However, what the community got as a replacement is far more predatory and seemingly not fair to the average consumer. 

Back when crates were still in existence, you paid 100 credits for one key to open one crate. Of course, you had to buy at least 500 credits but you would end up receiving 5 items. Now, you pay nearly quadruple that for a simple paint job. 

Of course, there are some low-priced items for 100 credits in the Item Shop. Though, the higher-priced items are what most players desire. So, essentially, Psyonix is making players pay a substantial fee for the items they really want. 

In the Blueprint update, there were new blueprints introduced, which are basically pre-designed cars. From the wheels to the paint to the design, blueprints are available for all cars. While the lower-rarity blueprints aren’t too extravagant, some of the higher-rarity blueprints cost an inordinate amount of credits. 

Will Psyonix lower their prices? 

It’s unknown whether or not the Rocket League developers will listen to the community. Presumably, they will gather data and see if this new, high-price model is making them enough money. If it is, then the Item Shop’s prices will most likely stay in place. 

However, if the data shows a steep drop-off in revenue, Psyonix could very well lower the prices. We’ve seen developers do this in the past; Respawn with Apex Legends is a recent example. 

Hopefully, regardless of what the data shows, Psyonix will revert this decision and use more consumer-friendly prices. If not, a large portion of the player base could end up leaving Rocket League altogether. 

Make sure to keep up with Online Esports for all of your gaming coverage.

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RLCS7 Grand Final is over with the master class trend by Renault Vitality. It consisted of Victor “Fairy Peak”, Alex “Kaydop” Courant, and “Scrub Killa” Robertson. The team enjoyed the fashion day. However, they looked better with the progress of the tournament. Now they are in a great position with 4-1 win series win on G2 Esports in its Grand Final. Both key players, Fairy Peak and Scrub Kila got the opportunity to lift their dream trophy for the very first time.

On the other side, Kaydop made it clear with his performance is that he is the best player of all-time. The 5 RLCS Grand Finals of this 3v3 player in a row with three wins made the player indisputable. He joined his past teammate Pierre “Turbopolsa” Silfver in the three-time magical club. Kaydop has also received a lot of appreciations from his fans all over for the distinct achievement.

More About the Grand Final

The Grand Final witnessed a lot of speculations about the performance of key players. Both Renault and G2 were the strong contenders. They came off from the semi-finals and were at their best. G2 made all the preparation with a 4.0 sweep. Vitality achieved the same while defending the Champions Cloud9. Both these teams were in high spirit and were looking to register another win in this Grand Final. They looked just unbeatable. However, the Grand Final always is unpredictable and no one knows which team will be able to perform better. As both these teams were not in pressure, fans are speculating a lot about the final result.

The first game itself created much hype by being the top Rocket League match played ever. Both these teams were planning to dominate and started by exchanging punches. However, G2 performed better in this Grand Final and planning to win in the end. They got the game with the 2-1 score at 0.00. It was just a matter of the time when the game went to their pocket. They performed well in the game and RV also managed to show off their potential.

RV had other plans about the game. The team kept the ball upbeat for about ten seconds. They managed to score equalizer even without forced overtime or dropping the ball. It worked in favor of the RV and they got the momentum again. Soon after, they went to take their overtime. In following two games, they were really good at putting the team on match-point. At this condition, G2 left with no choice except to reverse-sweep to win the title. This was not done for the best of the 7 RLCs series.

G2 was really scattered and they did not know how to perform with RVs pressure. Somehow the team managed to come back to the game and quickly Vitality returned to dominate the game. They scored a 2.0 and were their way to win the trophy. However, G2 had other plans to fight back. They came back to the game again with 2.2 and forced overtime. In the end, a single goal was keeping Vitality away from the trophy. Fairy Peak played last in the game and scored their title-winning goal. He scored it after fifty-two seconds.

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