Rocket League: Ultimate Edition

Overview

Rocket League is a 2015 vehicular soccer game developed and published by Psyonix. It is a sequel to 2008's Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars. Teams of rocket-powered cars hit a ball much larger than the cars into the other team's goal, a bit like indoor soccer with a demolition derby mixed in. There are single-player and multiplayer modes, local and online, with cross-platform play.

Matches usually last five minutes, with sudden death overtime if the game is tied, and can be played from one on one up to four on four, casual or ranked. A single-player Season mode pits you against computer players. Later free updates added mutators, an ice hockey mode called Snow Day, a basketball mode called Hoops, Rumble with its power-ups, and Dropshot.

It was released on PlayStation 4 and Windows on 7 July 2015, and on Xbox One on 17 February 2016, with most of the earlier DLC packs included for free. The Xbox One version also has Gears of War and Halo themed cars. Physical retail versions came later, first as a Collector's Edition from 505 Games in 2016, then from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

The Ultimate Edition is the Warner Bros. disc release. It came out on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on 28 August 2018 in North America and on 31 August in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. It has the base game and the content from the Collector's Edition plus more DLC packs and cars, all on the disc with no code inserts.

Reviews were generally favourable on every platform. Critics praised the multiplayer, graphics and presentation, and some criticised the floaty physics. Psyonix reported more than 10.5 million sales by March 2017, including over a million physical copies at retail. Rocket League became free to play on 23 September 2020 after Epic Games bought Psyonix, and player-to-player trading was removed in December 2023.

Game details

Genres

Sports, Vehicular soccer

Developer

Psyonix (additional work on Xbox One by Panic Button)

Engine

Unreal Engine 3

Composers

Mike Ault

Designers

Corey Davis

Producers

Sarah Hebbler

Directors

Thomas Silloway

Publisher

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (disc release); Psyonix (digital)

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

4

Online multiplayer

8

Release dates

Editions

Buy this game

Achievements

Achievements77 (2,200G)

Total

77

Gamerscore

2200

Online servers running

Yes

Online note

Rocket League is free to play and its online mode still runs. Eleven achievements need online play, such as Rank Up (competitive placements), New Challenger and Best of the Bunch (online tournaments) and the Club achievements. Acheev says most achievements can be earned offline.

Gamerscore with DLC

2200

Missable trophies

• None fully missable; Acheev flags Drops in the Bucket and Winning is Winning as soft missable

Grind

• Rocket Genocider (75G): 535 shots on goal
• Far, Far Away... (75G): drive 50 km
• Stocked (75G): collect 200 items
• Buckminster x10 (75G): damage 320 Dropshot panels
• Metaverse: needs the Halo Topper, which TrueAchievements says comes only from luck-based item drops for players who did not own the game before it went free to play

• Friendly Play an Exhibition match 10G 55.74% of players
• First-Timer Score your first Goal 10G 96.76% of players
• Know the Drill Complete a Practice Drill 10G 49.55% of players
• Tinkerer Customize one slot on a single Battle-Car 10G 90.15% of players
• Singles Club Win a 1v1 game 10G 63.4% of players
• Double Up Win a 2v2 game 10G 75.19% of players
• Triple-Threat Win a 3v3 game 10G 89.13% of players
• All Fours Win a 4v4 game 10G 62.72% of players
• Pick-Me Up Collect 5 Garage Items 10G 88.71% of players
• Feather in Your Recap Watch a save file in Replay mode 15G 28.91% of players
• Perfect Start Win your first game of the Season 10G 34.15% of players
• Winner Win a total of 5 games across any mode 15G 81.25% of players
• Clean Sheet Win a game without giving up a single Goal 15G 83.74% of players
• Hot Shot, Part Two Win the MVP award using one of the original Battle-Cars 15G 30.09% of players
• Throwback Use the Accelerato Boost with an original Battle-Car while playing in a SARPBC-inspired arena 15G 27.42% of players
• Psycho-Master Exploder Equip the Mohawk and Demolish 3 opposing Bots in the Wasteland 15G 23.93% of players
• Nice Hat With a Topper equipped, score 3 Goals in a single game 15G 65.87% of players
• Wall-Crawler Drive on the dome walls for a total of 5 minutes 15G 80.08% of players
• Turbocharger Use your Rocket Boost for a total of 5 minutes 15G 80.42% of players
• Traveler Play in every Rocket League® stadium 15G 74.59% of players
• Grease Monkey Customize the Skin, Wheel, Boost, Antenna and Hat slot on a single Battle-Car 20G 69.35% of players
• Minute to Win It With only 60 seconds left, Win a game in which you were tied or trailing 20G 77.52% of players
• Pitch Veteran Play a total of 20 games across any game mode 20G 71.6% of players
• Helen's Pride Score 6 Goals in a single game 20G 66.92% of players
• Still A Show-Off Score a goal while reversing 20G 68.13% of players
• Speed Demon Completely fill and then empty your Rocket Boost 10 times in a single match 20G 69.36% of players
• Break Shot Score a goal by hitting your opponent into the ball 20G 58.16% of players
• Drops in the Bucket Collect 50 Items 20G 67.49% of players
• Battle of Heroes Win a game against the Armadillo or HogSticker while using the other vehicle 20G 7.23% of players
• Barras Bravas Play an Online game with a Friend 20G Needs online 73.81% of players
• Super Victorious Win a total of 30 games across any game mode 25G 58.7% of players
• SARPBC Forever Play a game with every "classic" Battle-Car 25G 30.62% of players
• Team Player Play against every team in a Season 25G 21.84% of players
• Rider's Block Make 20 Saves 25G 54.54% of players
• The Streak Win 10 games in a row across any mode 25G 42.57% of players
• Rocketeer Complete the regular Season 25G 18.84% of players
• Drill Sergeant Complete every Practice Drill (any difficulty) 25G 27.53% of players
• Sky High Score an Aerial Goal 25G 44.13% of players
• Survival of the Fittest Equip the Shark Fin Topper and win an Unfair Bot Match 50G 8.66% of players
• Heartbreaker Win a game against All-Star Bots with the Hearts Decal equipped 50G 30.83% of players
• Champion Win the Season Championship 50G 17.05% of players
• Battle-Car Collector Unlock all Battle-Cars 50G 68.78% of players
• Far, Far Away... Drive a total of 50 km 75G 47.96% of players
• Stocked Collect 200 Items 75G 52.82% of players
• Mad Scientist Play a complete match in 3 different Rocket Labs Arenas 25G 30.85% of players
• Icing the Cake In Snow Day, score a goal from your own side of the ice 25G 31% of players
• Left Wing, Right Wing Win a Snow Day match with both the Blue and Orange teams 25G 26.18% of players
• Fast Break Score at least 2 Dunks in the first minute of a Hoops game 25G 19.16% of players
• Buzzer Beater With 30 seconds left, win a game of Hoops in which you were tied or trailing 25G 17.54% of players
• Budding Artist Collect a Painted Item 25G 55.05% of players
• One Better Increase the level of a Certified Item 25G 28.57% of players
• Certifiable Earn Veteran status for your Certified Item 25G 21.92% of players
• GG Win the MVP award in a game that goes to overtime 25G 57.32% of players
• Trifecta Score a Goal, Save a shot, and Assist a teammate in a single game 25G 61.15% of players
• Infinite Power! Activate every power-up in Rocket League® Rumble 25G 47.81% of players
• Stopped Cold Freeze an opponent's shot before it can score 25G 23.78% of players
• Sea Turtle Head to AquaDome and score a goal while flipped on your back 25G 11.63% of players
• Get Up, Mr. Bubbles! Equip the Bubbles Rocket Trail and Score an Aerial goal, while playing in AquaDome 50G 16.39% of players
• Rocket Genocider Make 535 Shots on Goal 75G 33.77% of players
• Registered Voter Head to 'Arena Preferences' and use all of your votes 25G 15.17% of players
• Metaverse Equip the Halo Topper and win a match on Starbase ARC 25G 10.54% of players
• Brave the Elements Complete a match on wasted land, under the sea, and in outer space 25G 48.83% of players
• Damage Control Win a Dropshot match via shutout 50G 25.43% of players
• Full Course Score a total of 18 Goals in Dropshot 50G 14.14% of players
• Buckminster x10 Damage a total of 320 panels in Dropshot 75G 19.82% of players
• Storm Trooper Equip a Deluxe Item and complete a game in an Arena with turbulent weather 25G 41.61% of players
• Good Times Head to Champions Field and complete an Online game 25G Needs online 66.33% of players
• New Profile Who This? Change your Player Banner, Avatar Border, and Player Title 25G 30.84% of players
• Trade Secret Trade In five items of the same quality to receive an item of the next-highest quality 50G Needs online 33.63% of players
• Rank Up Complete all placement matches in any Competitive Playlist 50G Needs online 42.94% of players
• Coming On Strong Score or Assist a combined 30 goals or assists in Casual or Competitive Online matches 75G Needs online 55.39% of players
• Join the Club! Create or Join a Rocket League Club 25G Needs online 35.36% of players
• Together is Better Play and complete an Online match with one or more Clubmates 25G Needs online 32.29% of players
• New Challenger Join and complete an Online Tournament match 25G Needs online 26.59% of players
• People Person Play and complete 10 Online matches with one or more Clubmates 50G Needs online 28.47% of players
• Squad Goals Score a Goal while in a Club Match (Online Matchmaking only) 50G Needs online 27.78% of players
• Best of the Bunch Earn the MVP award in any Online Tournament match 75G Needs online 19.24% of players

DLC

Gameplay updates have always been free, and cosmetic packs and cars were sold separately. The Ultimate Edition disc already holds the early packs.

Items

Name	Date	Adds
Supersonic Fury	2015-08	Two cars, rocket boosts, wheels, paint finishes and decals, plus the Utopia Coliseum arena
Revenge of the Battle-Cars	2015-10	Two cars from Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars with their cosmetics
Chaos Run	2015-12	Two more cars and cosmetics, released with the free Wasteland arena
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Car Pack	2016-03	The Batmobile from the 2016 film

Playable today

Online

Online servers runningYes

The game has been free to play since September 2020 and the online mode still runs, with no console subscription needed to play it. Player trading was removed in December 2023.

Services

Service	Status
Rocket League online play (Xbox One)	running

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale
Metacritic	Xbox One	87	100
Metacritic	PlayStation 4	85	100
Metacritic	PC	86	100
Metacritic	Nintendo Switch	86	100

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
GameSpot	9	10
IGN	9.3	10
PC Gamer US	87	100
Polygon	9	10
VideoGamer	7	10
Shacknews	8	10

Notes for collectors

• The Xbox One game has exclusive Gears of War and Halo themed cars.
• On PlayStation 4 it launched free to PlayStation Plus members, and Psyonix estimated about six million downloads from that.
• The Xbox One list has 77 achievements worth 2,200 Gamerscore, including sets for Neo Tokyo, AquaDome, Dropshot, the Anniversary update and the Progression update.
• Around a dozen of the achievements need an online match, a club or a tournament, so some will be hard to earn if online play is ever switched off.
• The macOS and Linux versions stopped supporting online features in March 2020.

Credits

Publisher

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (disc release); Psyonix (digital)

Developer

Psyonix (additional work on Xbox One by Panic Button)

Director

Thomas Silloway

Released

2016-02-17

Region

US

Copies in the shop

• Rocket League: Ultimate Edition (XBOX ONE) CA$14.99