Rocket League (RLCS) tournament schedule

Rocket League is a unique esports discipline and the founder of the whole subgenre of games. According to the definition, this is an arcade race game where players have to play football and drive cars

Rocket League was discussed for the first time in 2015 when it was released on Windows and PlayStation 5 on July 7. Having become popular among users on the release, the creation of the Psyonix studio quickly evolved in the esports discipline: Rocket League tournaments were hosted, big clubs were signing rosters in the fresh discipline, and the RL matches gathered dozens of thousands of viewers.

In our material, we will talk about the game in terms of esports. We will tell you what Rocket League tournaments exist when large championships were hosted for the first time, and what series is considered to be the most popular.

The birth of esports in the racing environment: when the first Rocket League tournaments were hosted

The competitive aspect of Rocket League was at the dawn of its popularity after releasing in 2015. To speak the truth, the game is built on the principle of competition between two teams, which hints at its esports future.

In 2015, different-scale tournaments were carried out in Rocket League. These were mainly local weekly battles and small school events for a few dozen participants. However, the rate of development of RL as an esports discipline was high and fans of the racing arcade had the first A-tier tournament in October 2015.

The countdown of RL’s transition to the big esports can be begun with Major League Gaming Pro League – Season 1. $2,500 was up for grabs at the online championship hosted by the MLG company and FlipSid3 Tactics was the winner of the one-day event.

The number of such tournaments increased soon and there were even more events in 2016: the big ones and not that big, global and local, Minors and Majors.

What types of Rocket League tournaments exist

Continuing the above-mentioned thought, it is worth briefly talking about the types of tournaments that are common in Rocket League. There is no sensation because everything is pretty generic in terms of esports but thanks to a few features, Rocket League looks favorably amid other esports disciplines.

In-game tournaments help to develop the ecosystem of Rocket League tournaments and grow a new generation of players. This is a special mode in the Rocket League client that is hosted weekly.

In in-game Rocket League tournaments, participants compete in ranked matches for the tournament currency. With the help of earned currency, exclusive items can be bought in a local store and there is no other way to get them.

However, this is just the start of the competition. The Rocket League tournament system is seriously developed and has more than 10 types of events.

Types of esports tournaments in Rocket League

• School leagues
• Mixed championships
• Qualifying tournaments
• Show matches
• Weekly events
• Monthly events
• In-game tournaments
• D-tier tournaments
• C-tier tournaments
• B-tier tournaments
• A-tier tournaments
• S-tier tournaments
• Majors
• World Championships

The classification is based on the sum of prizes, which are up for grabs at events. For example, school leagues are frequently played with enthusiasm without the prize pool or with a very insignificant monetary reward. This is widespread in other events, up to the D-tier championships.

Starting from this tier, participants of the championships receive a certain monetary reward, starting from 1,000 dollars for the D-tier and ending with events with more than 100 thousand dollars.

Majors worth special attention. The main seasonal Rocket League tournaments are hosted a few times a year and gather the strongest teams, which represent their region at the World Championships later.

Large sums are up for grabs at the biggest tournaments, RLCS Major and RLCS World Championship. Majors provide participants with a total prize pool of 310,000 dollars, the World Championships offer more than 2 million dollars.

Besides the prize pool, the RLCS abbreviation can be noticed. In short, this is the main tournament league in the professional Rocket League.

RLCS – the main Rocket League tournament

Rocket League Championship Series, abbreviated as RLCS, is the main Rocket League tournament series and the most interesting point of all professional teams. It was launched in 2016.

The first RLCS season took place in 2016. It was divided into 2 regions: Europe and North America with the global final at the end of the run.

The final RLCS event was carried out at Avalon Hollywood in Los Angeles with a prize pool of 55,000 dollars in August 2016. iBUYPOWER became the winner and the event was a foundation for the future and the ancestor of the RLCS series.

With the development of the game, the approach to forming RLCS tournaments changed. It grew into a bigger number of regions and attracted new teams.

For example, the RLCS structure was as follows in 2022:

• Autumn, winter, and spring split with the division into regions: Europe, North America, Oceania, South America, Middle East and North Africa, Pacific North, Pacific South, and Africa.
• Each region had 3 regional events: RLCS 2021-2022 – Regional Event 1, etc.
• RLCS points, which are used to make it to the Major tournaments, were up for grabs for teams at regional championships.
• Each split was over with a Major tournament.

The final part of the RLCS 2021-2022 season was the World Championship. The final tournament took place at Dickes Arena in Fort Worth, USA.

The championship included all the massive esports infrastructure: the world championship had qualifiers, the Wildcard event, the group stage, and the playoffs. Besides, there were show matches.

The championship was carried out for 10 days and Team BDS achieved victory there. The titled French club earned $600,000.

In 2023, Rocket League will have two Major events with a prize pool of 310,000 dollars. RLCS 2022-23 will finish at the World Championship with a prize pool of 2,100,000 dollars. The season promises to be intense and interesting and we will be following it with pleasure.