Epic Games acquires Rocket League developer Psyonix (update)
This is quite the surprise.
What you need to know
- Epic Games just bought Psyonix.
- Psyonix is the developer of Rocket League.
- Epic Games says the game will continue to be supported on Steam.
- It's unclear if it'll be removed from the platform in the future.
Updated May 1, 2019: Dana Cowley, Senior Marketing Manager at Epic Games, clarified that the company has "not announced plans to stop selling the game" on Steam, as previously speculated by The Verge. Cowley continued, "Rocket League remains available for new purchasers on Steam, we'll continue to support it on Steam for existing players after it comes to the store." The original story follows.
A few days ago, Epic Games' Tim Sweeney said that if Valve stops taking a larger cut of revenue on Steam, it'll stop making exclusive deals. However, it seems like the company has found another way to acquire exclusives. Instead of simply paying for the partnership, Epic Games is buying studios and making their games exclusive to the Epic Games Store.
Today, the company announced that it has acquired Psyonix, the developer of Rocket League. This news came as a surprise to many, and completely blindsided leading industry insiders. In a press release via The Verge, Epic Games stated the following.
Big news! We are extremely excited to announce that we are joining the @EpicGames family! Read more in our blog here: https://t.co/mlbsrKJ0b2 pic.twitter.com/fZYMpsBtt6Big news! We are extremely excited to announce that we are joining the @EpicGames family! Read more in our blog here: https://t.co/mlbsrKJ0b2 pic.twitter.com/fZYMpsBtt6— Rocket League (@RocketLeague) May 1, 2019May 1, 2019
It's unclear what this means for future content, but it's safe to assume that you'll have to go through the Epic Games Store to buy new add-ons like skins. The Steam version will still be playable — and supported — but, while it has no plans to do so now, it's unclear if Epic Games will completely pull Rocket League from Steam in the future. The language is vague and open to interpretation.
What do you think about this move? Let us know. If you own an Xbox One, you can play the game through Xbox Game Pass. Xbox Game Pass is a monthly subscription service which gives you access to over a hundred games for $10 a month. Luckily, there are numerous promotions going on on Amazon and the Microsoft Store, so you can subscribe for much less.
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Xbox Game Pass has a lot of important games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and much more. There is a promotion going on right now which discounts it to just $1. There are also three-month subscriptions available for $30 on Amazon.
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Asher Madan handles gaming news for Windows Central. Before joining Windows Central in 2017, Asher worked for a number of different gaming outlets. He has a background in medical science and is passionate about all forms of entertainment, cooking, and antiquing.