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esports
Rocket League's X Games Debut Scores Solid Landing
Boost-powered car soccer hits the extreme sports festival, and the action didn't disappoint.
Amidst a busy offseason from the Rocket League Championship Series, the summer has been filled with competitive events, including a pair of DreamHack tournaments, the RLCS Summer Series online invitationals and the just-starting Universal Open Rocket League (aka the NBC 2v2 event). And there's one other surprising event in the mix: ESPN's Summer X Games.
Held last weekend in Minneapolis, the $75,000 FACEIT X Games Rocket League Invitational brought together eight of the world's best teams to battle it out in one of the game's most visible spotlights to date: On the grounds of the annual extreme sports festival, and streaming on ESPN3.
True, Rocket League wasn't treated like an official X Games event. The top teams didn't win medals for their sterling performances, and the action was held in a tent right outside the doors of U.S. Bank Stadium, rather than inside near the enormous big air skateboarding ramp and dirt bike course. Still, Rocket League made a strong first impression in its X Games debut — and the experience made an impression on players, as well.
NRG prevails
It all started with great competition, of course, and the X Games Rocket League Invitational offered a fresh opportunity to see many of the recent roster changes and team shifts in play — especially before the fourth RLCS season begins next month.
North American favorites NRG ultimately took the win, securing their first-ever LAN victory. That had been a recurring knock against the team, especially since they had won the NA region in all three RLCS seasons via online play, but never quite sealed the deal at the live finals.
NRG claimed its first Rocket League LAN win
© Andrew Hayward
After finishing third at last month's RLCS World Championship, they were able to battle through tough competition and take the X Games win thanks to the impressive offensive attack of Garrett "GarrettG" Gordon and captain Jayson "Fireburner" Nunez, along with great assists and defensive work from Jacob "Jacob" McDowell.
They had to fight through a strong defensive showing from Europe's hottest new team, Gale Force Esports. Comprised of captain Jos "ViolentPanda" van Meurs, ex-Mock-It player (and RLCS S3 runner-up) Alexandre "Kaydop" Courant, and Pierre "Turbopolsa" Silfver — who recently won the championship as Northern Gaming's substitute — the team pushed NRG to the brink by taking a 3-1 lead after four games. However, NRG fought back and ultimately won the seven-game showdown thanks to a renewed late-series aggressive attack.
Including the Grand Finals, Sunday all about seven-game series: It took seven games for Gale Force to take the win against the current RLCS championship roster of EnVyUs, formerly with Northern Gaming, although they were playing with a substitute — Marius "gReazymeister" Ranheim, previously of FlipSid3 Tactics. And earlier in the day, NRG mounted a less-extreme comeback to take down NA rival Selfless (who have since signed with Renegades).
At the X Games
For some of the players, it was a dream come true to be able to play in the X Games after watching it over the years. "It feels amazing. For me personally, I've always grown up watching the X Games every year on TV," says NRG's Fireburner. "To actually be here and be able to compete for something is amazing. I never thought it would have happened."
Isaac "Turtle" App, a player for Rogue, echoes that point of view. "It's kind of crazy, because I used to want to come to the X Games as a kid and actually skate, but now I'm here to play video games," he says. "It's ironic, but also really awesome."
G2 Esports captain Cameron "Kronovi" Bills, meanwhile, called it "a huge honor," adding, "It was a shocker, almost. Like, 'Wow. Are we here, actually, at the X Games?' Because I used to watch this online all the time and on TV."
Top NA and EU teams clashed for the X Games crown
© Andrew Hayward
All of those are North American players, however. On the other hand, the scale and importance of the X Games didn't seem to register immediately with the European players I talked to, who mostly had not encountered the festival in their respective home countries.
"I hadn't heard of the X Games before this invitational tournament," admits Team EnVyUs captain Remco "Remkoe" den Boer. "It's an American thing, I guess. Looking it up, once it got announced, it seems like a really cool event, and being here as well — just watching the main events, skateboarding and stuff, it's pretty cool." He added that it had been an "amazing" experience at that point, prior to their eventual elimination and third-/fourth-place finish.
Kasper "Pwndx" Nielsen, stand-in and likely new permanent third for EU team The Leftovers (replacing the departed Victor "Ferra" Francal), admitted much the same about his knowledge of the event. "I'm going to be honest: I didn't know about X Games, but that's probably just because I'm from Europe," he says. "I realized how big it was, and I should actually be very grateful to be invited to play here."
Room for improvement
The tournament took place in a rather unfamiliar setting for a major Rocket League LAN: Inside of a large tent erected outside of a gargantuan football stadium. It was part of the X Fest area, which is filled with promotional vendors and merch stands; the tent sat across from a large (and very loud) Harley Davidson booth. Inside, the central stage area held six computers for the tournament, and was surrounded by three sets of bleachers for viewers who shuffled in and out between games.
Ultimately, the tent drew mixed reactions from players. NRG's Jacob called the feel of the tournament "pretty relaxed," while Fireburner added that it had "a pretty chill feel, compared to RLCS." EnVyUs sub gReazymeister said the tent was "very cool," and that "it's small, and it makes a different vibe to the tournament."
The big, white tent was next to the stadium doors
© Andrew Hayward
"Cool" might have been the wrong word to use, at least on Saturday. With outside temperatures surpassing 90 degrees, the tent felt like a sauna as it packed in close to 100 occupants along with computers, monitors, televisions, lights and other equipment. Bringing in fans offered light relief, even if they were just pushing the hot air around. "The air conditioning is horrible in there. We're dying in there," said Emiliano "Sizz" Benny of Rogue, and he wasn't alone in his complaints.
Luckily, the organizers seemed to figure out the cooling situation by Sunday, which proved much more comfortable even as the Rocket League action heated up. But there were other gripes about the tent setting. Kronovi called it "a little cramped" and said that cigarette smoke had been coming in from outside. Meanwhile, sunlight shining through an entrance door cast glare on the monitor of his G2 teammate, Dillon "Rizzo" Rizzo, who says he had to angle his monitor sideways to play. That door's glass was covered in dark tape by Sunday.
Selfless player Dappur scrims before battle
© Andrew Hayward
Nicolai "Snaski" Andersen, captain of The Leftovers, wished that the tournament location hadn't been so isolated from the rest of the X Games, and suggested that Rocket League's official online channels hadn't been utilized enough to build hype for remote viewers. "I think they could do more to bring in viewers," he says. "Get Rocket League Twitter and such more involved with it. I think they could push more for it to get bigger."
But even with a collective wish list of things that players might have wanted to see improved or done differently, many of them said the actual tournament was well run, and that organizer FACEIT reached out to players for feedback. Kronovi took a very diplomatic view of it all: "It was FACEIT's first time. Logistically, there's going to be issues with the first time. For their first time, they did a good job, also with short notice, and the production was excellent."
Boundless potential?
Rocket League isn't the first competitive video game to feature at ESPN's X Games: Call of Duty, Halo 5, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive have all held tournaments at the festival. Evil Geniuses even received X Games Gold Medals for their Halo 5 win early last year, which apparently upset some athletes from the more physical end of X Games competition. NRG only won a weighty trophy for their efforts, meanwhile, along with the $30,000 top bounty.
But there's a key difference in tone between those games, and Rocket League's wild aerial antics—plus the pairing of fast-paced action and sports elements—fit the X Games theme better than any other competitive game out there. Also, the lack of guns and realistic violence surely makes it a better pick for ESPN than a first-person shooter.
That's one appealing side of the game for a wider, mainstream audience. The other is the lack of a barrier to understanding for viewers, as Rocket League really is just as simple as "cars playing soccer." There are deeper strategies in play, and mechanics to understand regarding boost and aerial maneuvers — but the average viewer doesn't need to know how to play Rocket League, or even who the teams or players are. The high-flying action is enticing enough on its own and needs little, if any explanation. No other esport compares on that level.
By Sunday, the bleachers were increasingly full
© Andrew Hayward
"I feel like Rocket League has always had that [mainstream] potential from the get-go," says Fireburner. "It's such an easy game to understand and follow. You don't really need to know the intricate stuff about it. You can just watch it and understand what's happening instantly. I feel like that's why the X Games would decide to pick it up, and the whole NBC tournament coming up soon on TV too. The casual person who may not know Rocket League can watch it and enjoy it."
It could be an early sign of Rocket League's path to wider esports success. Without big barriers to casual viewing enjoyment, it has real potential to be a crossover hit, attracting prospective viewers who aren't already fans of the game and perhaps don't know or care about other esports. As Kronovi sees it, the tournament's ability to pull in and enthrall random X Games attendees really showcased that potential last weekend.
"The crowd absolutely came alive. From the outside, it sounded like there were way more people inside than there could possibly be," he says about the tent. "It's such a great spectator sport. I really think it could be a Tier 1 esport if enough people can actually get to the event, or there's enough space for them. I bet we could fill this stadium if we really wanted to."
