Rocket League Review Bombed Following Epic Games Acquisition of Psyonix

Published: May 2, 2019 10:21 AM /

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Rocket League Review Bombed

Yesterday we reported the acquisition of Psyonix by Epic Games, as part of Epic's campaign to establish dominance in the PC gaming ecosystem, which has been paved largely with exclusive deals. As news of the acquisition spread, riddled with faulty assumptions that the flagship soccer-racing game would become an Epic Games Store exclusive and get altogether removed from Steam, disappointed players and fans went on to use their last resort: coordinated review bombing through Steam's review system, which by design is woefully incapable of nuance.

Several outlets, TechRaptor included, had to update their reporting yesterday when it emerged that Epic Games has not announced they will be removing the option to purchase Rocket League from Steam following their acquisition of Psyonix. An Epic Games spokesperson told The Verge: "We are continuing to sell Rocket League on Steam, and have not announced plans to stop selling the game there. Rocket League remains available for new purchasers on Steam, and long-term plans will be announced in the future."

The assumption that it would stop being sold on Steam was based primarily on Variety's initial reporting, which stated: "The PC version of Rocket League will make its way onto the Epic Games Store in late 2019. In the meantime, people can still buy it on Steam. After the transition, Epic said it will continue to support the Steam version for all existing purchasers." The Verge interpreted the vague wording as a confirmation that the game would no longer be available for purchase, at first but Epic has confirmed that they were not announcing the future removal of Rocket League from Steam.

It seems almost certain that Rocket League will become the next game (the first outside of the Borderlands series) to make use of Steam's new anti-review bomb feature that removes the reviews over several days from impacting the game's rating when they are out of line.

The topic of Epic Games Store exclusives is becoming an open wound for what is most likely a vocal minority of PC gamers. It has been making headlines for the past few months, usually in backlash against developers and publishers who have been making exclusive deals with Epic. Recently, however, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney also responded to a query on Twitter about the possibility of dropping the campaign for Epic Games Store exclusives, as per our more detailed report.

What do you think of the whole affair? Is miscommunication the problem, or are people just looking for any reason to be angry? Let us know in the comments below!

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


Richard Costa
| Staff Writer

Hack for hire, indentured egghead, maverick thoughtcriminal. Mainly interested in Western RPGs, first-person immersion, turn-based tactics, point-and-… More about Richard

More Info About This Game
Learn more about Rocket League
Game Page Rocket League
Developer
Psyonix
Publisher
Psyonix
Release Date
July 7, 2015 (Calendar)
Genre
Racing, Arcade, Sports
Purchase (Some links may be affiliated)