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Pros Reflect on the RLCS World Championship's Rapid Evolution
From a cramped Hollywood nightclub to London's Olympics arena — longtime Rocket League players and casters talk about the seismic shift.
Less than two years ago, the first Rocket League Championship Series International Finals were held in Hollywood at the Avalon, a modestly sized nightclub. With eight of Europe and North America's best teams, $55,000 on the line, and about 1,000 fans in attendance, it was Rocket League esports' big coming out party — and it was a monumental event for the pro scene.
Things have expanded rapidly since then. Last weekend, the fifth-season RLCS World Championship saw 10 of the world's top teams battle for a share of $250,000, but it was the stadium setup and atmosphere that felt even more impactful than the upgraded prize pool. The World Championship went down in London's Copper Box Arena, a stadium built for the 2012 Summer Olympics, with a roaring crowd of thousands chanting along with the action.
It was the esport's defining moment to date, and a key stop on Psyonix's stated path to making Rocket League "the biggest sport in the world," according to esports operations manager Josh Watson. Rocket League has seen a lot of change and evolution in a relatively short amount of time, and many of the players and casters from the original RLCS International Finals were still along for the ride in London. We asked them about what it's been like to experience the World Championship's rapid growth from then until now, and where it could go next.
Humble beginnings
Back in August 2016, Rocket League esports was still a very new thing — officially, at least. Following a community push to establish tournaments and teams, Psyonix and Twitch launched the RLCS and worked their way through two online splits en route to the International Finals.
Some players had known and competed against each other for a long time: they played Rocket League's precursor, Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars. Others came in during Rocket League's pre-release testing periods, or soon after the game's launch in July 2015. In any case, the RLCS Live Finals was the first time that many members in the competitive scene — players, casters, community helpers, and fans — had spent time together in person.
It's been less than two years since the first RLCS finals
© Psyonix
"Obviously, the first time that you do anything as big as a brand new game's World Championship, it's exciting," explained James "Jamesbot" Villar, Twitch employee and RLCS analyst/caster since season one. "I loved that experience at the Avalon. It was small and tight-knit. That was the first time the Rocket League family met." Fellow RLCS caster/analyst Randy "Gibbs" Gibbons chimed in, adding, "For me, the first World Championship — I don't think anything can ever touch that."
Playing in a club with a small stage and about 1,000 fans might seem like a humble start now, looking back, but it was a huge experience then and a major turning point for the players. Online league play is one thing, but the live finals legitimized Rocket League esports in a whole new way. It was a spectacle unlike anything previously seen for the game, even if the scale pales in comparison to today's RLCS finals.
The first RLCS International Finals took place in Hollywood
© Psyonix
But it was a bit awkward, some admit. "I cannot imagine ever being crammed back in there again, having to break down computers every night and then set them up again because they needed to have a nightclub party that night," said Jamesbot. Dignitas player and three-time RLCS champion Pierre "Turbopolsa" Silfver said that the Avalon experience was "cramped" compared to the Copper Box environment.
"Season one, our LAN was in the back of a nightclub, and then the front of it was half a stage kinda — it was really weird," recalled Jayson "Fireburner" Nunez, captain for NRG. He and teammate Garrett "GarrettG" Gordon, who were grand finalists at this season's World Championship, are the only two players to compete at all five RLCS Championships since the beginning.
The Avalon might not have been the most spacious setting, and it didn't quite feel like the epic-scale sports experience that Rocket League emulates today. But the first RLCS Championship was a formative moment for players and casters alike, and a strong first step towards the expanding pro scene we see today. "It was in a small nightclub — but even at that time, that was amazing," affirmed GarrettG.
Arena upgrade
From there, season two's finals were held at the Theater Amsterdam in the Netherlands with a slightly larger crowd — about 1,100 people, according to a Reddit post from Blake "CloudFuel" Tull, who helped operate the RLCS for Twitch the first four seasons. Season three's rebranded World Championship, which added two Oceanic teams to the fray, pulled in about 1,800 attendees at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. And then last season's World Championship bumped up to about 3,000 people at the MGM National Harbor outside Washington D.C.
When there's nowhere to go but up, yet you're selling out traditional theatre settings, you upgrade to an arena. And that's exactly what the RLCS did this season, dropping the stage into the center of London's Copper Box Arena with viewers on all four sides — and an estimated crowd of at least 3,500 people, according to CloudFuel. Psyonix didn't have official numbers to share, but confirmed that attendance has grown with each new season.
The RLCS championship trophy at London's Copper Box Arena
© Psyonix
"There are a lot of factors when you go into picking a venue for an event like this. One of the things is that we were maxing out and capping out where we could play in theatres," Watson told Red Bull Esports at last weekend's World Championship. "They don't really make theatres that keep getting bigger in length, you know? So, we had an incredible show at the MGM last year and that's one of the biggest theatres, so one of the next logical steps is to move into something that can hold a little more capacity."
Players seemed understandably enthused about the setting — not only the scale of the venue and the hype around a center stage, but also the raucous crowd that chanted for (and against) players, sang songs, and raised the excitement level around every play. This season's World Championship felt like the biggest season-over-season step-up to date in terms of overall atmosphere and presentation, and definitely worlds apart from the first season's comparatively modest setup.
"It's absolutely insane. It's turning more into actual sport, and that's what I love," said Gibbs. "This crowd has changed what Rocket League is becoming, and I want to see a crowd like this at every single event from now on. It changes how the players play, and honestly, it has to be a treat for these players. Every single player is like, 'This has been the best experience ever.'"
The stage sat in the middle of the arena with fans all around
© Psyonix
Fireburner echoed Gibbs' view on it feeling more like a physical sports event — and unlike Gibbs, he's one of those players sweating it out in the middle of the Copper Box, surrounded by excited fans. But he loved it. "Now we're playing center stage in an actual arena. I think that's awesome," he said. "It's moving towards an arena style, because it feels like an actual sports match that we're playing. It feels like every season is getting bigger."
Said Turbopolsa, "It's definitely gotten more intense. People chanting more — we hear the crowd noise. And the matchups are way harder now, because people know the game better. From season one 'til this season, it's gotten much harder and way more fun, I'd say." He added, "It feels good to have more space now. Playing in the Copper Box Arena is really nice — it's a good atmosphere."
CompLexity captain Linus "al0t" Möllergren has finished in the top three at the last two World Championships, but he attended the first RLCS Live Finals as a spectator. From being in the audience two years ago to playing on Rocket League's biggest stage himself, he's lived through the significant expansion. "Seeing my friends play at that small of a [venue] to this… it's insane," he admitted. "It's surreal."
Continued growth
Of course, the season-over-season expansion and evolution of the RLCS World Championship is tied to that of pro Rocket League itself. When the RLCS started, the many pros were fresh-faced kids stepping into a wild new endeavor. There was much less money in play across the board, fewer noteworthy tournaments outside of the RLCS, and only a couple of significant organizations in the mix.
Now there are numerous major organizations fielding RLCS teams, and many of the top-tier players — some of them five-season veterans — are able to support themselves via Rocket League competition and streaming. Viewership has also steadily increased in the regular season, although peak World Championship numbers have declined a bit from the season three high of more than 200,000.
Players, casters, and fans alike got in on the chants
© Psyonix
After the rousing experience of this year's grand finals and the raucous crowd, expectations are huge going into next season's World Championship. How will they top the Copper Box? Can they?
"There's been a constant upward trend for the World Championship. I know there was a viewer record for day one on Twitch, and we broke that record. I think as more and more people start to look at the scene and as these teams continue to make the World Championship, you really get a fan base," said G2 captain Cameron "Kronovi" Bills, who won the first championship with iBUYPOWER Cosmic back at the Avalon. "I think it's on a good track to really blow up."
For many players and casters in the pro community, Rocket League's rise over the last couple of years has been life-changing. It has created careers and opportunities, and there's plenty of optimism that there will be more to come on both fronts. This season's World Championship was just another stepping stone on the seemingly upward climb for the esport.
"My life completely changed — I was doing commentating out of my basement for free on the weekends for fun, and just a couple of years later, now we're in London where Olympic events happened, casting it in an arena," said Jamesbot. "So Rocket League, the trajectory right now, where's it going? It's still going up, and it's been such a fun ride so far."
Even so, the veteran players and casters can't forget about that formative first championship. It gave us a brilliant grand finals battle between iBUYPOWER Cosmic and FlipSid3 Tactics, the two giants of the scene at that point, and delivered an epic win from early Rocket League star, Kronovi. Gibbs admitted an emotional attachment to that International Finals, since he played for Cosmic before the RLCS started. "I just can't wait for it to keep expanding, just bigger and bigger arenas. But we'll always remember that first World Championship, because it was something special," he said.
"The first World Championship, what happened there was magical, but the evolution of the game continues to happen," Jamesbot concluded. "It's exciting to see Rocket League continue to grow up, and I hope we can sustain this."
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