Rocket League Has Earned $50 Million
By Rob Gordon 26 December 2015
Indie hit Rocket League reaches a stellar sales goal, with reports stating that the driving-sports hybrid has earned $50 million for developer Psyonix.
Without a doubt, Rocket League has proved to be one of the surprise hits of the year. The indie smash, which combines the thrill of high-speed racing and car combat with the competitive edge of soccer, has become a wonderful addition to the world of gaming in 2015. What’s more, it seems that Rocket League has also been hugely profitable, with reports indicating that the game has earned $50 million.
The news comes from a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, confirming that Rocket League has reached this impressive sales goal of $50 million. It’s certainly a strong testament to the popularity and sheer quality of the game, particularly given that the title only launched in July of this year. In that time, Rocket League has also been able to amass an extremely strong community of gamers, with the game holding more than 8 million registered users.
Although the $50 million in earnings may not seem like a huge amount in the grand scheme of things – after all, Bethesda earned $100 million from digital sales of Fallout 4 in just three days – it’s a tremendous achievement for the small development team at Psyonix. With only a fraction of the resources of other studios, and an estimated budget of only $2 million, the game’s profitability is a huge success. Given the game’s relatively niche hybridization of soccer and racing, Rocket League is truly a gamble that paid off extremely well.
Alongside this commercial success, Rocket League has also gained plenty of critical plaudits since its release in July. The title was a surprise winner at The Game Awards 2015, picking up the title of best sports/racing title against juggernauts such as FIFA 16. What’s more, the game was also chosen as the best indie title of the year.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why and how Rocket League grew to the phenomenon that it is today, with it under consideration as a personal game of the year. However, strong word of mouth about the game is bound to have helped matters, with the infectious fun of Rocket League hard to keep to oneself. Given the way that online media has allowed indie horror games to punch above their weight, perhaps Let’s Players and streamers will also have helped spread the word.
This year has seen a number of independent games manage to break through the barriers of major publishers, managing to become hugely popular titles without the development (or perhaps more importantly, the marketing budget) of their AAA peers. Alongside Rocket League, games such as Undertale have tried to prove that the quality of the game in question is what matters, rather than the force behind a title’s initial creation. Meanwhile, Rocket League no doubt has an even higher ceiling to reach, with the title coming to Xbox One with console exclusives.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
