With a beautiful trailer, Psyonix announced season seven for the RLCS. Showcasing each continent, the trailer shows that South America is finally making its debut on the grandest of Rocket League stages. The full prize pool has not yet been officially announced but, according to the announcement, will be over $1 million in total. Hopefully, we’ll see that number rise even higher now that we have an extra region added to the mix and money is to be split even further.
A new region
Where Oceania was included in season three, South America was announced last year to be included in 2019. It’s great to see that they are added as an official region directly in the first RLCS season of the year. SAM was usually never included for first- or third-party major LANs and invitationals until WSOE4 last weekend. Hopefully, after showing what they can do in RLCS7, we’ll see more worldwide events in the coming year. One could expect Asia is up next, though when that might happen is anyone’s guess. For now, let’s appreciate that Psyonix is listening to the fans and adding more regions.
No format changes
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there will be any major changes to the format. Fans are hopefully awaiting announcements for changes to the length and size of the tournament. With several RLRS teams proven to be RLCS quality, many argue that the league play portion of the tournament, in particular, should be increased. In turn, this would also lead to the world finals growing in scope. More announcements are expected over the coming weeks, but it’s unlikely we’ll see such big changes so close to the tournament. With a little luck, however, we will see the much-desired in-game organization items, which were announced to be added before the conclusion of the season seven world finals.
Cross-platform qualifiers
Besides the RLCS, there is, as mentioned, the RLRS as well. The lower division allows players to work their way up to the RLCS while still offering something to play for. The top four finishers from last season will retain their spot, and the four open slots will be filled with new teams. With the recent announcement of full cross-platform support, players on Xbox One and Nintendo Switch are now also allowed to take part in the qualifiers beside PC and PS4 players.
RLCS set to begin in April
The league play portion of RLCS7 begins on April 6 for North America and April 7 for Europe. This will go on for five weeks before the regional finals are played shortly thereafter, where the LAN contenders will become known. The RLRS begins a week later, on April 12. It’s not yet known when the promotion play-offs will follow, but we expect to hear more about that closer to the tournament itself.
For more RLCS and Rocket League news, stay up to date with Daily Esports!
Published: Jan 29, 2019 02:28 pm