The Rocket League Autumn Update, which will bring transparent goal posts, standardized arenas, and other good stuff to the competitive auto-soccer game, will go live on September 28, developer Psyonix revealed today. The studio also discussed its plans for the game beyond the update, which will include a new Tournament Mode it hopes to have in beta testing before the end of the year.
"A tournament system is something we've wanted for Rocket League since our launch in July 2015," the studio said. "In-game Tournaments would allow all of our players, from Rookie to Rocketeer, to take part in competitions without ever having to leave the game client."
The beta will run through Steam, because it "allows us to make changes and collect performance feedback more rapidly than any other platform," and while nothing is carved in stone at this point, the goal is to have it launched before the end of 2017, and then rolled out to all platforms as a regular feature sometime next year.
In a similar "don't leave the client" vein, testing will also begin on a new built-in Party System that will work through PsyNet instead of Steam, Xbox Live, or PSN. The Party System beta will be Steam-exclusive as well, but it's "the first step in enabling the possibility of supporting cross-platform parties at a later date," Psyonix said.
"Once your account is flagged for the new Party system, your game will automatically sync with your Steam Friends List information and allow you to create a party via PsyNet. You’ll still use the 'Create Party' button as you normally would, but instead of seeing a Party invite in Steam, you’ll see new in-game notifications alerting you to a Party invite," Psyonix said.
Finally, Psyonix touched on the upcoming Events system, which will enable players to earn additional car customizations through time-limited events. Events will introduce a new item called Decryptors that will drop after matches and can be used to unlock any unopened Crates.
As for the Autumn Update itself, here's what you've got to look forward to:
- Farmstead, a new Seasonal Arena available in Competitive, Casual, and Private matches for a limited time this Fall
- More than 90 free new Customization Items available as Uncommon, Rare, and Very Rare drops after online matches or from Trade-Ins
- The introduction of Player Banners, a new player customization feature
- The End of Competitive Season 5 and the start of Competitive Season 6
- Standardization of Arenas for Competitive and Casual Online play
- Transparent Goalposts
- LAN Support for PC players
Full details are up at rocketleague.com, or you can get the quick rundown in the trailer below.
