May 1, 2019 Epic has expanded on an earlier statement that implied Rocket League would be removed from sale on Steam.
Earlier today, Epic announced that it had entered into an agreement to purchase Rocket League developer Psyonix, and that the game would be available for purchase on the Epic Games store later this year. The press release implied that Steam sales would be discontinued at that point, but now Epic says it hasn’t actually confirmed whether or not the game will be another exclusive just yet.
“We are continuing to sell Rocket League on Steam, and have not announced plans to stop selling the game there,” an Epic spokesperson tells USgamer. “Rocket League remains available for new purchasers on Steam, and long-term plans will be announced in the future.”
In that, Epic conspicuously does not deny that Rocket League will be removed from sale on Steam, and its original statement casts doubt on the game’s future on Valve’s store. “The PC version of Rocket League will come to the Epic Games store in late 2019. In the meantime, it will continue to be available for purchase on Steam; thereafter it will continue to be supported on Steam for all existing purchasers.”
In other words, Epic will guarantee you can buy Rocket League on Steam until you can buy it on EGS, and no further.
Rocket League already supports cross-play between PC and various console platforms, so it’s likely that there’ll be no issue in connecting Steam and Epic players. In a FAQ, Psyonix says there will be no short term changes to Rocket League as a result of the transition.
In the long term, Psyonix says having access to expanded resources at Epic will allow the studio to grow Rocket League in ways that weren’t initially possible. Epic and Psyonix have a long history together, going back to the latter studio’s work on titles like Unreal Tournament.
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“Psyonix has always been a part of the Epic family, and we’re happy to make it official,” Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says. “We have great respect for how Psyonix has built an excellent team and an incredible community around Rocket League.”