Rocket League Championship Series
GenreRocket League tournament
Location(s)Various
Years active2016–present
InauguratedSeason 1 (2016)
Most recent2021–22
Participants16
Organized byPsyonix
Websiteesports.rocketleague.com

The Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) is an annual Rocket League esports tournament series produced by Psyonix, the game's developer. It consists of three online qualification splits in several regions, with teams earning points towards qualifying for midseason tournaments and the RLCS finals, both of which are held as LAN events worldwide.

History

Psyonix had observed the popularity of Rocket League matches on Twitch and other live streaming platforms like YouTube by early 2016 and were looking to use the game more in Esports.[1] In March 2016, Psyonix announced the first Rocket League Championship Series; the finals took place in June 2016 with a US$55,000 prize pool.[2][3] The second season of the championship series took place in December 2016 with a $125,000 prize pool.[4] A third series began in March 2017, with the $300,000 prize pool finals taking place three months later. In this season, two teams from the oceanic region were also invited to compete.[5]

A second division, the Rocket League Rival Series (RLRS), was added in Season 4. The two teams finishing at the bottom of the RLCS and the two teams finishing at the top of the RLRS for each region play each other in a promotion tournament at the end of the season to determine if teams are promoted or relegated. At the advent of Season 5 in June 2018, Psyonix organised and managed the event alone. Previous to this, they partnered with Twitch. Season 6 started in September 2018 and featured a $1,000,000 prize pool.[6] For Season 7, Psyonix introduced South America as a new region.[7] Season 8 took place in December 2019. The Season 9 championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with winners of the regional championships being considered the champions.[8] In July 2020, Psyonix announced a new format for the tenth season of RLCS, known as RLCS X. This format did away with league play and the RLRS in favor of teams earning points through three regional splits, all culminating in three seasonal majors.[9]

The 2021–22 season began in October 2021, bringing in four new regions (Middle East and North Africa, Asia Pacific North, Asia Pacific South, and Sub-Saharan Africa), a more reliable circuit similar to Season X, and a $6 million prize pool.[10]

For the 2022–23 season Asia Pacific North and Asia Pacific South were combined into a single region with point totals being lower and each regional event being called an Open, Cup and invitational .[11]

Seasons

Season Dates Finals location Champions
1 April – August 2016 Los Angeles iBUYPOWER Cosmic[12]
2 October – December 2016 Amsterdam Flipside Tactics[13]
3 April – June 2017 Los Angeles Northern Gaming[14]
4 September – November 2017 Washington, D.C. Gale Force eSports[15]
5 March – June 2018 London Dignitas[16]
6 September – November 2018 Las Vegas Cloud9[17]
7 April – June 2019 Newark Renault Vitality[18]
8 October – December 2019 Madrid NRG Esports[19]
9 February – April 2020 Dallas Cancelled[a]
X August 2020 – June 2021 N/A
2021–22 October 2021 – August 2022 Fort Worth Team BDS
2022–23 October 2022 – August 2023 TBA TBD

Notes

  1. ^ Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with regional champions crowned instead.

References

  1. ^ Hussain, Tamoor (February 15, 2016). "Rocket League Dev Explains New Esports Drive". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  2. ^ Makuch, Eddie (March 2, 2016). "Rocket League Pro League Announced, Offers $75,000 in Prizes". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  3. ^ Lemmon, Kyle. "Introducing the Rocket League Championship Series". Rocket League. Archived from the original on October 17, 2016. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  4. ^ Faletti, Ian. "NRG Tactics conquer RLCS Season 2 grand finals". ESPN. Archived from the original on December 7, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  5. ^ Minotti, Mike (February 7, 2017). "Rocket League Championship Series season 3 will have a $300,000 prize pool". Venture Beat. Archived from the original on February 7, 2017. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  6. ^ "Introducing RLCS Season 6". rocketleagueesports.com. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  7. ^ Nowakowski, Ian (January 29, 2019). "Introducing RLCS Season 7". Rocket League. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  8. ^ Ocal, Arda. "RLCS championship canceled due to coronavirus outbreak". ESPN. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  9. ^ Jones, Alistair. "Rocket League Overhauls Its Entire Esports Structure". Kotaku. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  10. ^ "Announcing the RLCS 2021–22 Season". Rocket League Esports. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  11. ^ "RLCS 2022-23 Season Information and Sign-Ups". Rocket League Esports. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  12. ^ Faletti, Ian. "A chat with Season 1 champions 617 Cosmic". ESPN. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  13. ^ Faletti, Ian. "Eclipse Tactics conquer RLCS Season 2 grand finals". ESPN. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  14. ^ Hayward, Andrew. "Bizarre Gaming on Their RLCS Win and What's Next". Red Bull. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  15. ^ Parker, Max. "Gale Force's RLCS win marks new era in Rocket League supremacy". post-gazette.com. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  16. ^ Mejia, Ozzie. "Team Dignitas Wins Rocket League Season 5 Championship After Wild Final Flurry". Shacknews. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  17. ^ Mejia, Ozzie. "Cloud9 shocks Team Dignitas to win Rocket League Season 6 Championship". Shacknews. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  18. ^ Mejia, Ozzie. "Renault Vitality wins Rocket League Season 7 Championship". Shacknews. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  19. ^ Mejia, Ozzie. "NRG Esports wins Rocket League Season 8 Championship". Shacknews. Retrieved December 15, 2019.

External links

Rocket League Championship Series
Esports and competitive video gaming
Categories