“Why would you watch someone play a video game you have instead of playing yourself?”

I remember being confused at my kids watching people play Minecraft, Fortnite, FIFA, et al. They had those games, they were good at them (better than me for sure), but they preferred to watch someone else play their favourite game. Kids, eh?

I started playing Rocket League (think car football) a couple of years ago. My two lads and I would play casual 3v3, and I was awful. They indulged my failure to aerial and mocked me for missing simple tap-ins, but it was fun. I travelled a lot with work so had no chance of spending time exploring the training packs.

Lockdown hit, and suddenly I did have time to train. A good friend and I have played every Wednesday night for a year now. I play for 4 or 5 days a week with my boys, and I’ve got better. I’ll pop up with an MVP worthy display every so often and still clip up every decent aerial goal I score. I’ve trained diligently and want to improve my game. I’ve risen to the heady heights of Platinum.

The boys were excited to watch the Rocket League Championship Series this weekend. I sat down with them to watch FaZe Clan v Soniq and was blown away. I knew the teams would be good, but it wasn’t like watching the same game I have been playing. Over the year, I’ve watched clips of outstanding RL players, but it was in isolation. This was different. This was a constant stream of high-performance play by some seriously talented people. 

The whole set-up was fantastic on Twitch. Insightful commentary and analysis, and whoever was producing the car-cam footage did a superb job. I shouldn’t be surprised it was so good as I’ve read the many articles about the impact esports is having. Over the last couple of months, some esports experts have graciously given me their time to explain the industry to me.

This weekend, though, watching the Rocket League Championship Series (or RLCS as us cool kids call it), I finally ‘got it’. 

It’s not just a stream in isolation. The numbers watching on Twitch was impressive, and the engagement is off the charts. I got two in-game rewards for streaming around 6 hours of content. I’ve linked Twitch to my Amazon Prime account to earn rewards for other games. There is a whole ecosystem here that is only going to continue to grow.

Just this morning, it was announced that FIFA generated more revenue from video gaming last year than from football. $158 million of its $266 million total revenue for the year came from licensing rights.

I’m still getting my head around the various titles and teams, but Rocket League has something going for it in that it is simple and relatable. Two teams, two goals, one ball. Matches last five minutes with sudden-death overtime. It is a game of immense skill and quick-thinking and can have all the drama you get in live sports. It has got me absolutely hooked.