原作者：Christopher Dring 译者：Willow Wu

Psyonix向我们详述了他们的雄心壮志以及如何地把飞车足球竞技游戏引领成主流运动

这个故事是关于电子竞技成为国际赛事，登上主流电视台，这些个令人兴奋的事。

就其本身来说，这些事件对电子竞技的未来并没有那么重要。这是一项现代运动，大家都在Twitch上观看，BBC也没必要广播。虽说要是能看到玩家像国家运动员那样拿冠军是一件很酷的事，但是电竞不像那些比赛，游戏种类繁多，性质比较复杂。

然而这篇文章的重点就是电子竞技在主流中的潜力。梦想着能在报纸体育版面看到电子竞技的报道，在Sky Sports的黄金时段播放赛事，把世界各地的家庭吸引到屏幕前，为他们最喜欢的队伍喝彩。绝大部分的人对足球都是看得多，玩得少——要是Call of Duty也是这样就好了对吧？

但很不幸的是，电子竞技并不是主流。电竞游戏相当复杂，或者说相当暴力，也有的两者都是。有些游戏很难玩，有些比较容易上手，但是那些都是基于现实存在的运动（例如FIFA或者NBA 2K），那么烦人的问题来了：既然都有现实的东西可以看，你为什么还去看虚拟的玩意儿？

去年，我参加了一个面向主流媒体和管理机构的电竞活动。组织者们想要在舞台上展示电子竞技，但是不确定要选择哪种游戏——暴力射击游戏或者是密集的多人在线战术竞技游戏（MOBA），哪种都不适合。

The Rocket League Championship（from gamesindustry.biz）

Psyonix的电竞部门老板Josh Watson

当英国零售商GAME发布Belong的销售网点时（在本地商店中就可以进行电子竞技，相当便捷），他们面临着类似的挑战。大多数热门的电竞游戏是不太适合在大白天就在零售店里放出来。

最终，上述两方都选择了同样的答案：Rocket League。

对于主流运动来说，飞车足球赛游戏是个完美的产品。上手简单，它只是用汽车玩足球，但也是足以让人为之疯狂，因为你只能在游戏中才能这样玩。也难怪NBC Universal要用这游戏为他们日后在电视上播放电竞节目开路。

“Rocket League在2015年7月发售，社区小组们立刻对这个游戏产生了浓厚的兴趣，接着就发起了联赛，”Psyonix电竞部门负责人Josh Watson说道。

“所以Rocket League电竞在很大程度上是在社区中产生的。”正是有了广大草根的支持，有了联赛组织者和忠实粉丝，才能组成这样一个满腔热血的社区。如今我们拥有数十个社区小组，每年他们都在筹划上百个线上联赛和各种活动，因此它真的是从草根中壮大起来的。”

发行部门的副总Jeremy Dunham补充道：“通过我们和玩家的直接对话…了解到他们希望能有更多的机会让Rocket League成为一款规模更大的电子竞技游戏。”这正是我们现在努力所做的事。

“人们在电子竞技领域犯的最大错误之一就是他们只聚焦在那一撮机会最小的用户身上，可是那几十个人都可以靠电子竞技谋生了。我们想要电子竞技给人的感觉是小联盟或者是足球联赛那样的，人们可以玩各种各样的级别，从新手级到专家级都有。这样的话人人都有机会去玩Rocket League，感受到参与其中。这就需要一个庞大的计划还有大量基础设施建设，我们现在正努力朝那方面发展。”

去年，Psyonix在三个地区（欧洲、北美和澳洲）举办了比赛，奖品价值高达60万美元。赛事举办得很成功，6000个队伍参加参与其中，1百万人收看，还有1千万人通过Twitch收看。

Psyonix现在努力想要把数据提高，投入了250万把Rocket League发展成电子竞技游戏。

“我们想要电子竞技给人的感觉是小联盟或者是足球联赛那样的，人们可以玩各种各样的级别，从新手级到专家级都有。”——Jeremy Dunham, Psyonix

后来，Psyonix又在游戏中加入了新的功能，类似于电竞一键直播功能（这样话人们就能在游戏中观看了）。他们还增加了新的联赛，扩大到新的地区范围，给观众赠送游戏道具，出席更多大规模的游戏节，并且还跟NBC, ESL, Gfinity, Dreamhack等等公司签下合约。

他们还制作了RLCS (Rocket League Championship Series) Overtime show，每周固定播出。它近期的电竞决赛成了该周收视率最高的节目，观看时间总计长达280万个小时——比League of Legends还多了100万。

“其中有些数据包括229万独立观众，同时观看人数有20.8万，这些人来自7种不同语言的国家…这算是非常令人震撼的大数据了，”Watson说。“从客观来看，从第2季到第3季，视频播放量增加了604%，同时观看人数最高纪录增加了340%，社交媒体影响力增加了251%，独立观众数量增加了208%。这让RLCS的前景一片光明。”

公司甚至吸引来了非游戏赞助商，包括Old Spice, 7Eleven, Transformers: The Last Knight and Mobil1都签了合同，支持他们的联赛。

听起来真是一帆风顺，不过这些数据已经不能带给人们什么新惊喜了，成千上万的同时观看人数和珍稀的奖品池差不多已经变成了白噪音。这些对Rocket League来说都是不错营销合作，但是真的能靠它们继续盈利吗？

“我们的最关注的事情之一就是为我们的社区的提供竞争的空间。” Watson承认，“重点在于为这个社区服务。他们非常渴望更高级别的竞赛。”

然而华丽的联赛并不能真正地令社区满意。粉丝有节目观看，但是对那些非精英玩家来说，最终还是个进不来的地方。Dunham和Watson一直都在用“草根”这个词，那么他们打算怎么支持这群人呢？

“在电竞领域中，玩家是需要一条通向大师的道路。” Watson承认，“我们想创造这样一个生态系统，你跟一群厉害的玩家一起玩，他们想要参加竞赛，但是不确定要怎么才能参加联赛。我们正在努力铺好这条路，在这里你可以明确知道怎么才能成为顶级高手。”

其中的一些部分也改变了RLCS的运作方式。

The Rocket League Championship Series正在改变。

“RLCS第四季，我们会把焦点转换到创造出一个适合玩家和组织的新环境，” Watson解释道，“游戏鼓励团队制作长期计划，目的是为了能让玩家在这种新环境下磨练技能，提高游戏玩法的质量，这也能为玩家、制作公司和赞助商对Rocket League的长期投资提供必要保障。

“我们下一步将会制作升级和降级系统。目前的RLCS基本上算是大型的公开联赛，之后会进行淘汰，剩下最强的八支队伍，如果你在前八强中占据一席之地，你就可以参加小组赛，这通常是个很漫长的过程。如果你在资格赛的那天没有表现好，那你就倒霉了，无法参加联赛。这就是我们希望在升级/降级系统中尝试解决的问题。每个地区现在都有16支队伍，其中的前八强可以进入RLCS，也就是我们现在所说的顶级联赛。16支队伍的其中9支将会面临新的挑战，二级联赛。我们希望能够给玩家提供机会，走上竞争最激烈的舞台，同时培养出明日之星。这意味着我们在RLCS将会有来自三个地区的40支队伍参加比赛。

另外，Psyonix也在支持大学电竞项目。

“这是跟Tespa合作的项目，他们曾举办过一些有名的校内活动例如Heroes of the Dorm，”Watson解释道。“我们在7月初发布了学院版本的Rocket League series，这是我们的在学院电子竞技的首次尝试。这能够让所有北美地区的在校大学生以三人为一组的方式加入到竞赛中，赢得奖励。”

Watson说假如其它地区也有需求，他很乐意把这项活动推广到美国以外的区域。

这当然是极好不过的，而且Rocket League对此也有非常明确的意向，让它走到更远的地方去。现在Psyonix还在继续把这个项目漫游到世界各地。

“我们一直坚持的目标之一就是在电竞领域制作一个优质的运动产品，”Watson总结道。“这就是我们的动力。总的来说，我们确信我们的游戏是电竞领域最棒的游戏之一。”

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

Psyonix details its ambitious efforts to turn its car football game into a mainstream sport

The stories about esports going to the olympics, or airing on mainstream TV, are exciting.

In itself, these moments are not that important to the future of competitive gaming. This is a modern sport, there’s no need for BBC broadcasts when millions are watching on Twitch. And as cool as it may be to see gamers at official sporting championships, these competitions are not suited to the complex nature of esports with all those different games.

Yet what these stories highlight is esports’ potential within the mainstream. The dream of seeing esports on the back pages of newspapers, taking prime time slots on Sky Sports and drawing in families around the world rooting for their favourite teams. Millions more watch football than play it – wouldn’t it be great if that was also true of Call of Duty?

Unfortunately, esports is not mainstream. The games are complicated, or violent, or both. Some are hard to follow, while the ones that are easier to grasp are often based on existing sports (such as FIFA or NBA 2K), and the nagging question there is why watch the virtual versions when you can see the real thing?

Last year I attended an event about esports targeted at mainstream media and Government. The organisers wanted to demonstrate esports on stage, but were unsure over which game to use – violent shooters or densely packed MOBAs were just not suitable.

Psyonix’s esports boss Josh Watson

When UK retailer GAME launched its Belong range of stores (effectively local esports areas within a shop) it was faced with a similar challenge. Most of the popular esports games are simply not appropriate to show in the middle of the day in a retail setting.

Both eventually hit upon the same answer: Rocket League.

The car football game is the perfect title for mainstream sports. It’s easy to follow as it is just soccer with cars, but also crazy enough that it can only be done in a video game. It’s no wonder NBC Universal is using the game in its efforts to develop a TV presence in esports.

“Rocket League launched in July 2015 and immediately community groups latched onto the game and started to create tournaments,” says Josh Watson, head of esports at developer Psyonix.

“So Rocket League esports was very much born from the community. It is that grass roots support that has made for a passionate community of tournament organisers and fans. Today we have several dozen community groups who are doing hundreds of online tournaments and events annually, so it has really ballooned up from the grassroots.”

VP of publishing Jeremy Dunham adds: “The conversations we’ve had directly with players… they want more opportunities for Rocket League to become a bigger esport. That is something we are focusing on a lot.

“One of the biggest mistakes people make in esports is that they only focus on the smallest possible audience, the 50 to 100 people who are good enough to make a living out of it. We want esports to feel more like little league or football, where people are playing at all levels, from childhood to the pros. That way there is always an opportunity to play Rocket League and be a part of something. That requires a massive plan and a lot of infrastructure, but we’re spending a good amount of time putting that in place.”

That plan is accelerating rapidly. Last year, Psyonix ran competitions in three regions (Europe, North America and Oceania), with $600,000 in prize money. It did well, with 6,000 teams taking part, 1m unique viewers and 10m channel views on Twitch.

Now Psyonix is trying to grow that rapidly, with a $2.5m investment in developing Rocket League as an esport.

“We want esports to feel more like little league or football, where people are playing at all levels, from childhood to the pros”
Jeremy Dunham, Psyonix

The company has since added new in-game functionality, like an esports live button (so people can watch in-game). They’ve added new tournaments, expanded to new regions, offered in-game items to viewers, appeared at more major festivals and has signed deals with NBC, ESL, Gfinity, Dreamhack and a whole lot more.

It has developed the RLCS (Rocket League Championship Series) Overtime show, which airs every week. And its last esports finals became the most watched esport of that week, with 2.8m hours of viewership – 1m more than League of Legends.

“Some of the numbers we saw included 2.29m unique viewers, 208,000 concurrent viewers across seven broadcasted languages… so some pretty big numbers,” says Watson. “To put that in perspective, between Season 2 and 3 we had a 640% increase in video watched, 340% in peak concurrent viewers, 251% increase in social media impressions, and 208% increase in unique viewers. It is incredibly promising for the RLCS moving forward.”

The firm is even attracting non-gaming sponsors, with Old Spice, 7Eleven, Transformers: The Last Knight and Mobil1 all signing up to support their tournaments.

The RLCS Overtime Twitch show

It all sounds good, but then esports figures always do. Millions of concurrent viewer numbers and outlandish prize pools have almost become white noise. It’s all good marketing for Rocket League, but is this actually a profit-generating endeavour?

“One of our focuses is on giving our community a place to play competitively,” Watson acknowledges. “It’s really about servicing this community. They’re hungry for this high level competition.”

Yet big flashy tournaments don’t really service the community. It gives fans something to watch, but ultimately it’s still prohibitive for anyone outside of the most elite gamers. Dunham and Watson keep using the term ‘grass roots’, so how are they looking to support that?

“There is this notion in esports about the path to pro,” acknowledges Watson. “We want to create this ecosystem where you are taking good players who might want to play competitively, but they’re really not sure how, to attending tournaments. We are trying to build out this path to pro, where it is clearly defined how you get to that top tier.”

Part of that is transforming how the RLCS works.

The Rocket League Championship Series is changing

“For RLCS season 4, we are shifting our focus to creating a sustainable environment for players and organisations,” Watson explains. “Teams will be incentivised to plan for the long-term, and the goal is to create an environment where players can hone their skills, which will improve the quality of the gameplay and it should also offer players, owners and sponsors the necessary security to invest in Rocket League for the long-term with confidence.

“We are moving to a promotion and relegation system. The RLCS is basically a big open tournament at the moment, and then it funnels down to the top eight teams, and if you make it to the top eight you can play in a group stage, which happens over a long period of time. What that doesn’t allow for is if you don’t perform well on the day of the qualifiers, then you’re out of luck. That is something we are trying to solve with the promotion/relegation system. Each region will now be comprised of 16 teams, with the top eight making it into the RLCS as we know it now… the top division. And the nine through 16 teams will have access to a challenger, second division. We are hoping to provide players the opportunity to compete at the highest level, whilst being able to cultivate talent for tomorrow’s stars. That means we will have 40 teams across three regions competing in the RLCS.”

What’s more, Psyonix is supporting college esports.

“It’s in partnership with Tespa, which is a group that runs some notable collegiate experiences like Heroes of the Dorm,” Watson explains. “We launched with the collegiate Rocket League series in early July, and this is our soft launch into collegiate esports. It is where we are allowing players who are enrolled in colleges all over North America, to make teams of three and play in these competitive environments while earning prizes.”

Watson says he is open to expanding that beyond the US, assuming there’s the demand for it.

It’s certainly commendable, and Rocket League does have a certain simplicity about it that could see it go far. It’s now a case of Psyonix keeping that momentum going.

“One of our visions that we try to hold to is to create a premium sports product in the esports world,” Watson concludes. “That is something that drives us. We do think our game is one of the best suited games for esports in general.”(source: gamesindustry.biz )