Rocket League gets lorey
Rocket League Season 5 brought with it the usual buzz for the new ranked season, usual anticipation for new items, and usual disappointment with the latest rank rewards.
But one part of the update that’s largely gone unnoticed is that Psyonix seems to have released a tiny glimpse of official Rocket League lore.
“Starbase Arc has been INVADED! An evil force has taken control of the classic Arena, and has turned it into a new, dark soccar pitch known as Starbase Arc (Aftermath).”
It may be two simple sentences, but its presence struck me as peculiar nonetheless, given Psyonix’s history of purposefully avoiding official lore.
There’s a great article called ‘Why are the stands filled with egg people?’ (it’s worth the 5 min read) about lore in esports, and how every major esport has introduced at least some level of lore, background story, or universe…apart from Rocket League.
To be sure, the game itself seems to have plenty of lore — the maps have detailed background scenes, easter eggs, hidden areas outside the arena and nods to other Psyonix titles. Season 5’s new map, Starbase Arc (Aftermath), is a perfect example.
But Psyonix has been surprisingly guarded about Rocket League’s official lore — epitomised in a funny interview with a Psyonix employee from 2015 where they refused to reveal anything, and said they wanted to keep lore a mystery (i.e. they probably hadn’t got round to it yet).
So do the two sentences (and the unusually lore-laden arena) mean Psyonix is changing course? What was the purpose of the two seemingly innocuous lines of lore? Was this just a one-off? Did the copywriter in charge of the announcement not get the memo that Psyonix doesn’t do lore? Or was it a conscious decision, the genesis of a plan to flesh out the universe and reveal the mystery behind the egg people?
I can’t help but think of Arcane, Riot’s new hit Netflix show set in the League of Legends universe, which received immense hype and success and is part of Riot’s sweeping plans to expand the League of Legends universe into numerous games, songs and other IP.
Perhaps Psyonix — owned by Riot’s rival Epic Games, remember — want in on the action, and are finally ready to start revealing the lore behind the supersonic, acrobatic, rocket-powered universe we spend our time in.
By Jake Nordland
