Game developer Psyonix has announced a brand new, standalone Rocket League title for mobile devices. Called Rocket League Sideswipe, the game reportedly takes the core competitive car soccer gameplay and "reimagines" it with mobile devices in mind.
Rocket League's original incarnation has steadily grown in popularity since its 2015 launch, enough so that Fortnite creator Epic Games bought the developer two years ago. Similar to Fortnite, Epic adapted a season pass in addition to making the game free-to-play. The title recently announced its second Llama-Rama event, which crosses over with the battle royale and allows players to earn cosmetics for both Fortnite and Rocket League.
The new Rocket League Sideswipe moves the game's camera perspective to the side (hence the Sideswipe name) in order for more intuitive controls on the small touch-based screens. Players will be able to compete in either one-on-one or two-on-two matches. The upcoming mobile game encourages fast-paced gameplay, namely by shrinking the usual match length from five minutes to two. According to its website Rocket League Sideswipe, despite the new perspective and control scheme, will also feature similar "easy to learn, hard to master" mobile controls, touting "advanced mechanics" for players looking to climb the title's competitive ranking system, much like standard Rocket League.
Rocket League Sideswipe will also have robust car customization, also similar to the game's regular version. The first screenshots reveal the title will feature a number of different arena types, including basketball and a new one which forces players to drive up a wall in order to reach the goal. Set to launch later this year, the mobile title has today begun holding a "limited alpha test" for Android users in Australia and New Zealand. While currently limited to the two countries, the Rocket League site will have more info on future betas in more regions in the coming months.
Although the planned release of Rocket League Sideswipe for iOS should come as a positive development for parent company Epic Games, another Epic title has yet to make a return to the platform - Fortnite. While the situation between Apple and Epic has mostly stymied since last summer, and in-person trial date has been confirmed, which may finally decide the battle royale's ultimate fate on mobile devices.
Rocket League Sideswipe is in development for Android and iOS, set to launch in 2021.
Source: Rocket League