Rocket League sets new player record with almost 500,000 players across all platforms
Since COVID-19 outbreak turned into a global pandemic, social distancing and staying at home has become a new way to live, which ushered many individuals to seek entertainment in playing video games, so it should not come off as a surprise many game titles saw its player base grow significantly over the course of last few months, and Rocket League is no exception.
Just recently Counter-Strike: Global Offensive set a new milestone, by reaching 1,000,000 concurrent players, which marked its highest player count since the game's release, while other game titles such as Dota2 finally saw an increase in their numbers. More and more people seemingly seeking refuge in playing games in these dire hours of our civilization as COVID-19 continues to spread across the globe, forcing everyone to stay at home and avoid getting infected.
Joining the club of video games that are reaching new heights in their player base is Rocket League, which has reached nearly 500,000 peak players across all platforms this Thursday, as revealed by SVP of Rocket League Game Development Cory Davis in his Tweet, which showed a picture of 485,197 online players.
The spike saw Rocket League jump to top-10 most played games on Steam. The platform continues to see around 18 million average users per day since the coronavirus pandemic, while CS:GO continues to lead the charge as the most played game with 451.275 current players and 1,100,244 peak players.
The 485,197 Rocket League players include players from all platforms, while on Steam alone, Rocket League peaked at 119,124 and sees an average of 44,915 players, which is the highest number the game has seen since its release in summer of 2015. Its player base numbers are also directly correlated with the game's impressive growth by over 10% over the past month, yet, the biggest spike in players came in December 2019, when Rocket League gained 22.92% player base, which catapulted its peak players from 60,075 to 80,213, while its average player number increased from 32,520 to 39,973.
Although Rocket League saw an immense growth over the past couple of months, the game has steadily held over 30,000 average users since September 2016, dropping below the 30k milestone only twice since. Since the turn of the year, however, Rocket League has seen over 40,000 average players. Before March's 119,124 peak, Rocket League's best month was April 2016, when it saw 102,684 players playing the game.
It's worth noting the numbers only apply to Steam, meaning it does not include players that play the game from other platforms, where the numbers are significantly higher, seeing how Corey Davis pointed out the game has reached 485,197 players, which is over four times as much as the number displayed on the Steamcharts, as it includes players who play on PC, as well as those who enjoy Rocket League on PlayStation 4, XboX One and Nintendo Switch.
Although impressive numbers for Rocket League, it's highly unlikely it will ever reach the player base of CS:GO, Dota2, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege and Grand Theft Auto V, which are the top-five most played games on Steam as of March 2020. Nonetheless, it's safe to say Rocket League has a very bright future ahead.
Rocket League's player base record numbers can also be attributed to the recently unveiled Rocket Pass 6, which was released earlier on Wednesday. The update introduced new cybernetic supercar, new series of cosmetics, as well as hundreds of credits, which are awarded to premium players, who progress through the 70 tiers.
Rocket Pass 6 is divided into two different tracks. All players are eligible for Psyonix's gift, while premium players who acquire the pass also gain a large series of cosmetics and perks, which includes Ronin car.
The pass costs 1,000 in-game credits, however, as with any battle pass system in other games, players can earn those credits back by progressing through all the tiers. Reaching the 110th tier will award the players all 1,000 in-game credits back, alongside all rewards that will get unlocked on the way. What's more, by purchasing the Battle Pass, players get 50% increased experience gain at the end of all matches, alongside bonuses for playing in a party.
Some of the rewards players can gain by progressing through tiers are two universal black market decals, new goal explosions, three variants of Ronin supercar as well as painted variants of items for every tier after 70th.
Rocket Pass 6 will be live from March 25 to July 15, which means the players have just under three months to progress through all 110 tiers and unlock their rewards, as well as earn back their 1,000 in-game credits they have spent for unlocking the pass.
