Rocket League took the gaming world by storm when it was first released back in 2015. Since then, two things have been a constant — exponential growth and sever issues. One certainly correlates with the other as Psyonix has continually struggled to cope with its own unprecedented success. It’s a problem to be sure, but certainly not the worst one to have.

According to the companies latest ‘Year in Review,’ over two billion matches have been played by the game’s over 38 million players. That’s an increase of over 50% year over year and puts Rocket League in the same realm as some of the biggest esports in the business. 

One of the most striking aspects of Rocket League as an esport is it’s uniqueness. It isn’t a MOBA and it isn’t a shooter. It has an incredibly low barrier to entry and it can be just as fun for a child as a grown adult.

On the other hand, League of Legends is fantastic. It’s fun to watch and a blast to play, but it has a massive learning curve and requires a serious time and energy commitment. Rocket League is much more simple and requires a lot less time to learn and play. There aren’t dozens of champions to master, no runes to know or items to buy. The strategies are less convoluted and the queuing is shorter. In Rocket League, you drive a car into a ball so that the ball goes into the net. That’s really it. 

Sure flying can be difficult to master and there are some layers of complexity and strategy, but nothing on the same level as LoL, Dota, or CS:GO. And that’s not a bad thing. Rocket League isn’t less of an esport because its less complex. That’d be like saying basketball is less of a sport than football. They’re different sure, but that’s okay.

League isn’t for everyone. It’s hard to be a dedicated LoL player if you have a job, a family, and other hobbies. From booting up to queuing to playing, a single match can take an hour or more at times. That’s a long time for some people. On the flip side, a Rocket League match can be done start to finish in under ten minutes.

Rocket League is an outlier in the esports world in almost every way. It’s a perfect entry point for casual gamers who might be knew to the idea of esports, yet it can be enjoyed by even the most seasoned esports fan. 

And if you’re wondering where Rocket League is going from here, the answer is up. Next year Psyonix plans on rolling out their game to the Chinese gaming community, one of the largest and most thoroughly untapped markets in gaming. The RLCS is also expecting to be bigger and better than ever and we’ll finally get our first look at in-game tournaments.

Psyonix hit unexpected gold with Rocket League and we’re just now witnessing the beginning of it’s journey as a competitive esport.