Psyonix under fire about lack of communication on esports

Community concerns

Fans, professional players, organization owners, casters. Everyone involved in Rocket League esports has started calling out Psyonix on their lack of communication. The esport started growing fast in its infancy, and while the prize pool is still growing by the season, Psyonix is staying tight-lipped on some much-desired changes. Professional organizations joined the scene with good hopes for Rocket League esports, but the growth has seemed to stagnate and organizations are starting to feel anxious.

Personalities speak out

We’ve already suggested things to improve the scene, based on what people are talking about in the community. But it’s become a hotter and hotter topic over the last few weeks. Professional player Remco “Remkoe” den Boer tweeted out that his team, We Dem Girlz, is not close to signing a new organization after his former employer, Envy, left the scene. Big organizations are hesitant to join Rocket League esports.

And to answer any and all org questions:

No we are not close to signing. Unfortunately Psyonix chooses to be extremely non-transparent with where they're headed. An org with teams in 13(!) esports titles but refuses to even talk to rlcs/rlrs teams must have a reason for it

— remkoe (@remkoe) October 7, 2018

In the Reddit discussion about this tweet, Hector “FrosT” Rosario, CEO of Flipsid3 Tactics, chimed in and explained how he is being ignored:

At RLCS season 3 Dave [Psyonix CEO] said he would give me a sit down. I had 2 minutes before he walked away. Psyonix has had many chances to get the information needed in order to figure it out. There are enough teams who have the records in multiple games to show them how to better organize it.

RLCS caster and analyst James “Jamesbot” Villar also discussed potential changes to the viewing experience during his Rocket League podcast, Rush Hour. Of course, they only spoke of ideas and weren’t putting real pressure on Psyonix, but it’s good that community personalities who work with the company are taking part in the discussion.

A little while later, Adam “Lawler” Thornton, another RLCS caster and analyst, spoke about revenue sharing. He went over hypothetical solutions with in-game items to represent teams in the RLCS and RLRS. While they’re just rough ideas, it’s more than what Psyonix is doing.

On the flip side of things, professional player Philip “Paschy90” Paschmeyer seems less concerned. It seems a stretch, but Paschy saw upcoming updates for the game when he visited the Psyonix studio and tweeted his excitement. Could he know something the fans don’t? Fellow professional player Francesco “Kuxir97” Cinquemani doesn’t seem to believe so.

Many of us were very vocal about it, I don't know what you're talking about. We are all gonna be without orgs if nothing changes soon

— kuxir97 (@kuxir97) October 12, 2018

On the other hand, however, Remkoe seems to confirm that players do indeed know something is in the works, and that the delay is causing the frustration and worries.

Humble brag about knowing ingame items are on the roadmap or? Every pro knows about it, some orgs knew about this since early-mid 2017, doesn't make a difference. It's the details that matter 🤪🤓

— remkoe (@remkoe) October 12, 2018

Time to communicate?

It seems odd, then, that Psyonix is staying quiet when their own partners are publicly stating their concerns. Threads about these issues pop up daily on the RLEsports subreddit, with fans being concerned about the future of the esport. Professional players, rightfully so, are also worried. The viewing experience has been almost exactly the same since Season 1, while dozens of suggestions and ideas have been shared over the years. It’s important that bigger personalities such as players, casters, and organization owners voice their opinions. The discussion cannot be allowed to die down.

Regardless of what fans and players alike are saying, the situation will eventually reach a point where Psyonix has to start communicating. Whether it is with announcements or roadmaps, their silence on the matter is beginning to harm the Rocket League esports scene.