With over 75 million adrenaline-junkie players getting their fix of car soccer competition, Rocket League first rolled onto the scene in 2015 as a surprise multiplayer hit.
But while its fusion of high-speed vehicles and physical mayhem satiates fans, the game harbors underlying issues. These problems have reached critical mass, making Rocket League more of a user-punishing chore than the fun hot rod playground promised.
From its inscrutable physics to straight up disrespect for players‘ time, seasoned gamers may want to permanently retire Rocket League for good.
Fortunately, plenty of alternates exist that deliver all the fun without the frustration.
Here are 12 reasons why uninstalling Rocket League could lead to greater enjoyment:
1. The Physics Actively Punish 95% of Players
Rocket League merges soccer and race cars, letting users flip, spin and propel vehicles at insane speeds. Mastering the precise vehicle control needed leads to a brutal learning curve though.
- Over 95% of Steam players have not earned the "Rocketeer" achievement for hitting expert level. Indicating the majority of users never grasp the required car mastery.
Unless you sink hundreds of grueling hours into repeatedly bashing yourself against the walls (literally), expect clumsy embarrassment. Heaven help you trying aerial shots, where missing a single timed button press spells disaster.
- It‘s like giving players a loaded gun without any safety tutorials. Where‘s the fun in that outside the lucky talented few?
Image: Player failing to make a shot. A common sight for new players.
2. Brace Yourself for The Salt Mines of Toxicity
Saddled with a punishing skill curve, Rocket League‘s dependence on multiplayer magnifies the misery. It means running head first into the entrenched savagery of online gaming communities.
Teammates will readily mock struggling players, spamming quick chat sarcasm and outright slurs. Or they‘ll sabotage the match if things don‘t go perfectly.
- One study showed 39% of online gamers have experienced harassment, with 70% feeling it‘s become worse recently.
Coupled with the demanding precision needed, Rocket League feels less like playing with friends and more like swimming among hungry saltwater crocodiles.
3. The Wheels Fall Off When Teammates Inevitably Quit
Even if you persevere through scornful teammates, another gut punch looms.
Rocket League‘s community treats voluntary dropping out of matches with indifference. Players bail after one botched save or goal, not wanting to risk their precious rank points.
Image via Reddit: Players leaving ranked matches, ruining the game.
You might load into a 3 vs 3 game, only to have it cascade into a 1 vs 3 debacle, wasting 5 minutes.
- Nearly 50% of matches can result in outnumbered scenarios just through players quitting voluntarily, according to fan estimates.
Have fun getting demolished! At least bots exist now, but they make poor substitutes for enemies with human cunning.
4. Enjoy Repeating Literally the Exact Same Actions Forever?
Rocket League markets itself as merging high-speed racing with competitive sports. But in reality the core soccer premise means constantly repeating the same sequence over and over:
Hit ball towards opponent‘s net + Repeat x 1000
Different stadiums or ball skins can‘t mask this forever. Ultimately you‘ll still be slamming the same spherical object between the same rectangle goals until your eyes bleed.
Even just a simple single player campaign would help alleviate this numbing repetition. But sadly no – outside of the main car hitting ball mode and some training mini games, zero innovation exists.
5. Eternal Tutorials Still Won‘t Help You Win
Addressing common complaints, Psyonix finally implemented new driving and aerial maneuver tutorials for beginners. But even mastering those gets you nowhere close to competing online.
Between hopelessly outmatched ability and teammates ready to throw matches, Rocket League often feels like trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon.
- A poll showed 61% of players feel the game now overwhelmingly caters to hardcore talents. Leaving newcomers in the dust.
6. Enjoy Watching Your Wallet Drain Too?
Despite converting to free-to-play status to remove barriers, Rocket League mires itself with deliberately manipulative monetization methods. These psychological schemes aim to exploit fans rather than reward them.
The worst offender comes from the Rocket Pass system. Offering cosmetic unlocks across 100 levels, it dazzles hungry players. Psyonix gates desired items behind layers of filler rewards or the Pass‘s premium upgrade.
This marries FOMO psychology with sunken cost fallacy, making not constantly re-upping for $10 feel like squandered progress.
Image via Reddit: Shaming monetization systems that exploit player psychology rather than entertain.
Other titles like Fortnite popularized this model, but feel less coercive about purchases. At least they‘re honest you won‘t literally "miss out"; the Rocket Pass could expire and take your incremental progress with it.
7. My Steam Library Beckons for Solo Storyplay
Rocket League completely abandons any single player component. Understandable for a sports adjacent title, but still a glaring omission that limits its audience scope.
Fantastical solo adventures exist offering sprawling worlds and characters to lose myself in elsewhere. So why lock myself into repetitively competing at the same derivative car soccer ad infinitum?
- Rich narrative journeys like Disco Elysium or Mass Effect 2 tell deeply human stories impossible through Rocket League‘s online mulitplayer tunnel vision.
And that‘s discounting millions of backlog games accumulated that I could also enjoy instead of rage quitting botched matches.
8. It Gatekeeps Newcomers More Than Real Sports
While real world sports carry learning curves too, their ubiquity makes grasping basics intuitive over time through osmosis. Plus, casual fans enjoy specializing in aspects they directly connect with rather than full mastery.
Conversely, Rocket League makes no allowances for casual engagement. Even playing socially sees you smashed into humiliation by veterans. And with everything geared towards advancing rank rather than fun, it almost mocks you for incompetence.
- Its narrow vision of success and progress instantly excludes anyone not ready to dedicate themselves.
9. The Numbers Don‘t Lie: Interest is Waning
Psyonix likely worries internally despite public enthusiasm. Rocket League saw over 175,000 concurrent players in early 2021. Today that figure sits below 120,000 peak over the past 30 days.
Not terminal by any means, but a worrying downward trend as interest plateaus. Coupled with near 50% negative recent Steam reviews, the game clearly ruffles feathers more than delights recently.
Image: Peak player count steadily dropping since early 2021 (via SteamCharts)
Fatigue likely factors from a dependence on limited systems. And with competitors on the horizon like Ubisoft‘s Roller Champions, minds and market share risk getting stolen.
10. It Offers Less Crashbang Than Demolition Derby Games
Rocket League stylistically dazzles as vehicles smash boosting through industrial arenas. But ordered competition neuters the cathartic carnage promised.
Worse still, even wanton displays get punished by removal from matches temporarily. Where‘s the chaotic fun in that?
Demolition derby games like Wreckfest ultimately scratch that breakage itch better. That series provides dozens of armor-laden behemoths to unleash symphonies of crunching high-speed destruction with.
11. It Disrespects Your Most Precious Resource: Time
Allow an old gamer grudge for a moment. I find my tolerance for manipulative mechanisms that forcibly waste my time dying off over recent years. Life offers too many rich experiences to dwell on things that don‘t respect players.
Between matches frequently becoming unwinnable thanks to quitters and the repetitive loops, Rocket League often feels downright insulting rather than joyful.
- I don‘t need additional resentment in my leisure time – life serves enough already.
Other games realize your attention gets pulled in infinitely more directions nowadays. Thus they seek to captivate through worlds and stories that surprise and inspire rather than frustrate.
- The aforementioned Disco Elysium stands as designer Martin Kreuch‘s reaction to needlessly coercive game loops – now I can play an RPG at my own pace with no forced grinding!
12. It‘s Just Not That Much "Fun" Per Hour Played
Let‘s cut to the core then. As Mariah Carey once wisely said, "I don‘t know her" about games that waste my energies without tangible reward.
Peeling back Rocket League‘s layers shows a technically sound but hollow experience outside eye catching spectacle. One overly dependent on either practiced skills or cooperative strangers.
Quantifying enjoyability exposes more potency and memorable moments gotten from elsewhere:
- Skyrim – 60 hours to satisfy wanderlust through a rich fantasy realm overflowing with adventure
- The Last of Us – 16 hours of harrowing high stakes survival against zombie hordes
- Rocket League – 3 hours before questioning if my time holds better purpose than chasing balls in cars
Rocket League deserves recognition for pioneering unusual sports-minded ideas within gaming. But between annoyance and monopoly over players‘ time, it‘s long overstayed its welcome for many.
With a cornucopia of multiplayer and single player epics exist elsewhere, no needexists anymore to cope with Rocket League‘s glaring downsides:
Whether your flavor lies in cooperating towards goals or exploring emotional narrative journeys alone, better games avoid Rocket League‘s glaring downsides.
So consider this permission to close and uninstall Rocket League for good. The gaming world flourishes everywhere, not just confined inside these increasingly aggravating arena walls.
Over 100 million players have moved onto better multiplayer pastures and single player adventures. Here‘s hoping you save your time and energy doing the same rather than dealing with toxic chat spammers.
Your backlog surely has dozens of undiscovered worlds that respect you better with more substance too. Farewell Rocket League – may mods like basketball bring players who still enjoy simplicity solace.
Just don‘t let those salty veterans guilt or goad you into staying!
