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Rocket League Invitational Joins the Summer X Games

Psyonix’s car-soccer mash-up gets extreme, and lands a broadcast deal with NBC.

David Craddock

June 28, 2017 3:00 PM

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This summer’s X Games event will play host to the FACEIT Rocket League Invitational, a $75,000 tournament that will be broadcast live on ESPN3. According to a report published by ESPN, Psyonix’s game will be a part of the extreme sports event’s X Fest, the event’s entertainment- and gaming-focused division which specializes in events such as interactive BMX and skateboarding.

“The X Games and ESPN have done a great job of bringing attention to nontraditional sports over the years," said Josh Watson, operations manager of Psyonix’s eSports division, in a press release. "Adding eSports and Rocket League to that lineup is something we at Psyonix are very excited about. We can't wait to bring this competition to a whole new audience.”

Two new audiences, in fact. Earlier this month, NBC Sports announced a two-on-two Rocket League tournament with a $100,000 prize pool. The event will be televised on NBC Sports from August 5 through August 27. Both the X Games competition and the NBC broadcast deal came together as a result of collaboration between Psyonix and FACEIT, an eSports platform.

In other Rocket League news, Psyonix announced that the game will launch on Switch this coming holiday. The announcement came during Nintendo’s E3 Direct stream, and followed months of speculation and uncertainty stemming from Rocket League’s community as well as its developer.

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.