Season 8 of the RLCS has been officially announced. With signups for the qualifiers for the Rival Series starting now through Aug. 26, RLCS8 league play is set to begin the weekend of Oct. 5. The announcement comes right on cue, as the community was already anticipating the reveal based on previous years. Though the full prize pool is yet to be confirmed, Psyonix announced it will once again be over $1 million. This likely means the same $1,060,000 prize pool as last year, considering the acquisition by Epic Games doesn’t seem to have been finalized yet, unless another Rocket League announcement is in the works.
Changes to the RLRS
Starting next season, the Rival Series will consist of 10 teams rather than eight. This also means that six teams will retain their spot in the season beyond instead of four. This is an excellent for step for Rocket League esports, though many fans would probably have liked to see this extend to the RLCS as well. It’s been a hotly debated topic over the last seasons, but at least it looks like Psyonix is willing to try new things.
An extra day of playoffs was also announced for the RLRS, giving teams a better shot at promotion to the RLCS. The top four of the RLRS will play in an extra playoff to determine the two teams that will play in the promotion/relegation tournament against the bottom two teams of the RLCS.
Perhaps this is a hint at things to come and that season 9 will feature 10 teams in the RLCS as well, but that’s speculation for another day. For now, we can finally start looking forward to the next season of the RLCS. Those who are willing to try their luck getting into the second division of Rocket League with a chance to promote to the RLCS can start signing up now at the smash.gg page. Check out the official announcement page for a full list of qualifier dates, and keep up with all the roster changes here at Daily Esports.
