Rocket League will tone down its Steam presence following free-to-play shift

Rocket League is officially going free-to-play when it launches on the Epic Games Store later in the summer, and following that shift new players on PC will no longer be able to download the game through Steam.

A heavier pivot toward the Epic Games Store has been somewhat expected since Rocket League developer Psyonix was acquired by Epic Games late last year, but today’s announcement isn’t full Epic Games Store exclusivity by any means.

For the most part, the Epic Games Store launch won’t affect current players of the game. Those that already play through Steam can continue to do so, and will also still see the same updates and new features as other platforms. 

The only real EGS-centric change here is that, following the free-to-play update, new players won’t be able to download Rocket League through Steam and will instead have to turn to the Epic Games Store.

“Once Rocket League goes free to play, anyone who already owns Rocket League on any platform (including Steam) will be able to play and enjoy the game with full support for future updates and features,” explains a blog from Psyonix. “However, the Steam version will no longer be available to download for new players. To put it simply, wherever you play now (including Steam), you'll still be able to play in the future.”

This rough timeline for a free-to-play launch comes 5 years into Rocket League’s lifetime, and follows a series of monetization changes and alterations launched in the months following Psyonix's acquisition by Epic Games.