It's rare that gamers are hit with news about an update or a game being delayed and it's, somehow, good news. However, in this rare case you're probably going to be duly excited to find out the reasons behind Rocket League's delay for the latest update, because it will completely change the landscape of the game's multiplayer.
Over on the official Rocket League website, there's a fall roadmap for the updates set to arrive for the action-sports title on home consoles and PC. However, the post had to inform fans of the game that the latest update had to be delayed because of Sony. No, it's not bad news like before... it's good news. In the post, Psyonix reveals...
While our goal was to release RocketID before the end of 2018, we've made the difficult decision to push its release into early 2019. The good news is that with Sony's recent announcements regarding full cross-platform functionality, we can now make additional changes to prepare RocketID for ALL platforms should we receive permission to do so!
Yes, RocketID will enable gamers to log into Rocket League and play with other gamers across the wide spectrum of the online multiplayer universe that spans the likes of the Nintendo Switch, PC, the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.
Previously this was a limited feature that was implemented due to the PS4 not being included in the cross-play features due to Sony having blocked the feature initially.
Last year things began to escalate when Epic inadvertently allowed gamers across Xbox One and PS4 to play with one another when cross-play was briefly enabled within the Battle Royale game, Fortnite. Epic was forced to disable the feature at Sony's behest, which did not go down well with the rest of the gaming community.
All throughout 2018 there have been efforts by the gaming community to convince Sony to enable cross-platform compatibility between PS4 gamers and Xbox One and Nintendo Switch owners. Previously Sony had only made it possible for PS4 gamers to play with PC gamers, especially for games that Sony helped publish such as DC Universe Online and Planetside 2.
Eventually, Sony conceded to the demands of the gaming community and allowed developers to enable cross-platform play across games like Fortnite and Rocket League.
Psyonix now has to go through the process of ensuring that the security measures come up to Sony's standards before enabling cross-play for the PS4. The update will also include the Rocket Pass 2 along with enhanced Xbox One X support, which will allow gamers who own the premium console to play at 4K UHD with full support for 60 frames per second refresh rates.
Thankfully, while gamers wait for the cross-play update to go live featuring RocketID, there will be a number of events that can also be played throughout the fall and winter, including a Halloween Haunted Hallows event, along with a Frosty Fest set to take place in mid-December. Following those updates, you can look for the all new cross-platform features to go live in early 2019 for Rocket League.
