Psyonix, the developer of car football title Rocket League, has unveiled a new format for the 2025 Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) season.
The RLCS in 2025 will feature two Major events alongside a $5m (~£3.7m) prize pool in addition to the inclusion of a one-versus-one format.
According to a release, the changes to the RLCS format are “increasing opportunities for fans, players, and teams to be able to compete and watch more.” The total prize pool has increased by $700,000 (~£530,000) from the $4.3m (~£3.2m) on offer during the 2024 season.
The one-versus-one competition will run alongside the three-versus-three competition. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top 128 players from Europe, the top 64 from the South American (SAM) region, and the top 32 players from the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
Alongside the arrival of one-versus-one competition, Psyonix has unveiled last-chance open qualifiers between the second Major and the season-ending World Championship. Taking place across the four regions based on their average performance at past Majors, one team from each of the regions will qualify for the World Championship.
As a result of the last-chance qualifiers, the total number of teams competing at the World Championship will expand to 20 from 16. 2024 has already been a year of expansion for Rocket League esports as in February 2024, it added ten new teams to the esports section of its in-game shop.
The 2024 RLCS World Championship recorded impressive viewing figures. According to esports data platform Esports Charts, viewership peaked at 426,833, a slight decrease compared to the 468,292 recorded during 2023’s event.
