To the untrained eye, Rocket League is always the same regardless of how many people are playing. One-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three — it’s all cars deftly knocking a ball around in hopes that it goes into a goal. “Soccer but with cars” is always the high-concept pitch.
There are some deviations, though. Over the game’s three-year lifespan, Psyonix has introduced some alternate game modes. Hoops is essentially basketball. Snow Day is essentially hockey — complete with an obloid puck-shaped ball. Rumble adds all sorts of zany temporary modifiers, like a plunger to pull the ball behind you and a boxing glove to punch your opponent across the pitch. Dropshot has players breaking the floor apart in pursuit of scoring goals by slamming the ball through the ground.
These modes don’t have much of a consistent following these days. At time of writing, approximately three percent of Rocket League‘s online players were in one of these modes’ playlists. Rumble was the only one to crack 1,000 players. These game types have a few very dedicated folks who prefer these modes, but they’re mostly an afterthought for the average Rocket League fan.
This fall, Psyonix is making an unexpected move in hopes of bolstering these alternate modes’ player counts. At the start of Season 9, each of these game types will get their own playlist in ranked. All of Psyonix’s wackiest takes on Rocket League will have people playing competitively.
Source: Destructoid Rocket League’s wackiest game modes are getting their own ranked playlists