Professional eSports just got a lot more exciting, with Amazon-owned Twitch announcing that it has partnered with independent game developer Psyonix in order to launch an official, full-fledged "Rocket League" Championship Series.
Since it was released, "Rocket League" has been a runaway success, featuring arguably the most chaotic and intense game of soccer ever conceived. In the game, players take control of souped up vehicles, which are then pitted against each other in a giant soccer arena.
The game's format, as well as its rather straightforward rules and gameplay, are probably among the Championship Series' main draws, especially since the game's most popular multiplayer mode, a 3-on-3 deathmatch between two opposing teams, seems tailor fit for tournaments.
Teams who would wish to take part in this year's championship could start registering for the tournament starting March 25. Unfortunately for Xbox One users, the league, at least for now, only supports players across the game's PC and Playstation 4 platforms. Twitch, however, assured fans that Xbox One would be supported in the near future.
Nick Allen, director of E-Sports operations at Twitch, is highly optimistic about the championship league, which is set to award a $75,000 prize to this year's champions.
"We'll be focusing on online play for the early stages of the competition, the qualifiers and regional finals, with the capstone event being a live, international championship," he said.
Of course, the tournament would be streamed live by Twitch, tapping into its massive 100 million audience. Hosting, organizing and ultimately streaming the tournament might very well be the golden goose for Twitch, a company which traces its roots in professional gaming.
Twitch has played a very prominent role in the rapidly emerging and increasingly lucrative world of professional gaming. Its efforts and subsequent revenue related to serious gaming tournaments eventually caught the eye of e-commerce giant Amazon in 2014, which purchased the company in a hefty $1 billion deal.
According to Allen, the selection of "Rocket League" was a matter of the game's potential and popularity. After all, "Rocket League" was so successful, it rose from 165th place to the Top 5 within a month of its release on Twitch.
"We continue to see viewership growth around 'Rocket League' on Twitch, as streamers from all different gaming backgrounds continue to go back to playing it because of its fun and easy to learn gameplay," Allen said.
With interest in the game remaining notable, this year's "Rocket League" Championship Series might just be the next big thing in eSports.
