The Rocket League Championship Series Season X (RLCSX) World Championships are not happening this year, Psyonix announced. Instead, the season concludes with regional online events that introduce some new formats to the RLCS.
The RLCSX World Championships take another year off, replaced by the RLCSX Championships. For the first time in RLCS history, the format will feature Best-of sets. This forces teams to win multiple Best-of-5s and Best-of-7s.
The second Worlds are canceled
The RLCSX World Championships are the second canceled due to the pandemic. Last year, Psyonix also pulled the plug from Season 9 Worlds after selling out within minutes of the tickets going live. Fans and players alike had hoped that the World Championships — like other esports, such as Call of Duty, League of Legends and VALORANT — could happen this year in a bubble LAN environment.
Many RLCSX players react to the news with disappointment. Star players, such as Team BDS’s Alex “Extra” Paoli and SpaceStation Gaming’s Slater “Retals” Thomas, are especially critical of the news; calling Rocket League a “Tier 4 esport” and saying that there is “literally no point in playing anymore.”
Literally no point of playing anymore, ggs. https://t.co/pYdRybO9la
— Extra (@Extra_RL) April 15, 2021
The RLCSX Championships format and dates
The RLCSX Championships are regional events. The top six in Europe and North America battle it out in a page-playoff format. This means that the top two immediately qualify for the semi-final. South America and Oceania feature just two teams, respectively. This is just like they would at the world championships, where the winning team will have to claim two best-of-7 victories in order to take home first place.
The $1,000,000 prize pool from the RLCSX World Championships splits based on region — with $400K each for Europe and North America, and $100K each for Oceania and South America.
The event is to be held over the course of a week, starting Tuesday, June 15. The tournament consists of four matches, followed by two matches per day all the way until Sunday, June 20.
