Rocket League Turned 10 Last Week and I Didn’t Even Notice

Rocket League is a game that dominated much of my life 10 years ago, and it's a weird feeling looking back on it now.

We all have that game where we've told ourselves “I could go pro,” and Psyonix's 2015 hit is mine with its inventive take on car football, Soccar. It's still my most played PS4 game of all-time, second most on Steam, and who knows what on other platforms. My highest peak was getting Diamond rank in competitive 2v2s, and I could never forget the constant “What a Save!” messages spammed in quick chat when someone messes up.

As someone who mostly plays single player games, Rocket League was a defining multiplayer experience that had me chasing increasing highs in competitive. Launching as a PlayStation Plus monthly game on its debut made it an easy choice to get into. I remember being at a friend's flat as we set up the closest thing you could get to a LAN party for 4v4 matches. Pure, beautiful chaos.

Even now, there's still something tremendously satisfying about pulling off some fantastic teamwork. Whether that's making those close saves on the goal line, setting up some crucial assists or scoring off an unlikely aerial while exhausting your boost gauge, there's a competitive element that remains thoroughly compelling. The phrase “easy to learn, hard to master” is highly overused, yet that arguably describes the game perfectly.

This hasn't always been the smoothest journey, though. The last decade has seen Psyonix, which got bought out by Epic Games in 2019, make a few questionable decisions. The (thankfully now scrapped) paid loot crate system wasn't particularly great. Monetisation unsurprisingly got worse since going free-to-play, while removing player-to-player trading killed a huge community aspect of the game. That's before getting into its removal from Steam.

Some exciting crossovers or new modes and arenas would keep me coming back, though much of my enthusiasm died when Epic added the Tesla Cybertruck. The fact that it simultaneously arrived in Fortnite screams more of Epic giving the order, but that doesn't excuse stroking Musk's ego. New seasons are much less exciting these days too, which is why I didn't even register the anniversary.

It's a tough one for me to reflect on in some ways, perhaps because of how different my life was then to what it is now. Rocket League in 2025 feels like it's been on life support for a while, but there's much I still love about it now, despite some missteps. I've yet to find another multiplayer game that's come close to having me this obsessed.