PlayStation Plus is a subscription service offered by Sony PlayStation. With the launch of the PS4, it was required that you have a subscription to play online games. It also provides a wealth of benefits and discounts. But now that rocket league has gone free-to-play, many people wonder whether they still need the PS Plus subscription. So let’s take a look.
You do not need PS Plus if you want to play rocket League online or offline. However, having PS Plus is a great way to get cosmetics that only PS Plus subscribers get, and they get it for free. Also, it is essential to remember that no free-to-play game requires PS Plus.
In this article, we want to look at more than just whether or not you need PS Plus for rocket League online. We will also look at whether or not you need Xbox Live gold if you are on Xbox. That said, we are going to take a deep dive. So for everything you need to know about PS Plus requirements in Rocket League, keep reading.
Why Rocket League Does Not Require PS Plus
Ps Plus used to be required if you wanted to play Rocket League Online. However, it was only recently that all of this changed, and it all has to do with rocket League going free-to-play across all platforms, including Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and PC. Obviously, in this article, we are talking about PlayStation as Xbox and PC have different rules.
Sony PlayStation does not require its users to have PS Plus to play any free-to-play game online. It is only for paid games that it is necessary; therefore, rocket league does not require PS Plus.
It was only on September 23, 2020, that rocket League went free-to-play across various platforms. After epic games acquired Psyonix, the original developers for Rocket League, they announced that the game would go free-to-play. It took a few months from the announcement, but it eventually went through.
As to why rocket League went free-to-play, we can only assume that Epic Games saw the success of their phenomenal game Fortnite which had a free-to-play battle royale mode alongside its paid-for-game Fortnite Save The World. The battle royale mode was and still is free to play but has managed to generate billions of dollars.
Does Rocket league need Xbox Live Gold on Xbox?
Xbox has taken the World by storm with its Gamepass service. However, even though the company has launched this phenomenal service doesn’t mean that everything is peachy when it comes to its overall service. Here’s why.
Unlike PlayStation, Xbox requires you to have an Xbox Live Gold membership to play any game online, including free-to-play titles such as Rocket League. However, most Xbox players have Gamepass ultimate, which cancels out Xbox Live Gold.
Is it better to Have PS plus for Rocket League?
This question is a great one to ask. So many people do not know that being a PS Plus member gives you certain benefits, and when it comes to free-to-play games such as rocket league, Fortnite, and World of warships, Sony gives PS Plus members a few goodies.
In rocket League, they often release a free bundle for PS Plus members, including car decals, banners, titles, and much more. While it is rare for them to give out high-end items such as any black market or exotic items from PS Plus, it is still nice to have certain PlayStation-centric items.
You can use these free items to show what platform you use when playing cross-play against Xbox gamers and PC.
So yes, I would say that it is better to have PS Plus when playing rocket League because you get these items, and you also get things for just about every free-to-play game that is currently relevant such as Fortnite, where you get pickaxes, skins, stickers, and more.
Regarding why PlayStation does this, it is easy to see that it is a way to entice people who might not need PS Plus because they only play free-to-play games. Remember, when Sony sells a gaming console, they don’t make much money. So, if someone only plays free games and doesn’t subscribe, Sony might be losing out, and therefore, it is clever to try and entice you.
Do You Need PS Plus To Enable Crossplay On Rocket League?
An interesting fact about rocket League and the developer Psyonix is that they were one of the first companies and games to enable cross-play. The feature was used to allow PlayStation players to play with those on PC but not with Xbox and for Xbox players to play with PC but not with PlayStation.
Before cross-play became available for Playstation to Xbox and vice-versa, rocket league was not free-to-play. So, technically you did need PS Plus to enable cross-play between Playstation and PC; however, even when cross-play became a thing between Playstation and Xbox, Rocket League still was not free to play, so again, you needed PS Plus.
When Rocket League went free-to-play, the PS Plus requirement completely fell away, and so even if you are playing cross-play between PC, Xbox, and or Switch, you do not need PS Plus to enable that feature.
Why Does Free To Play Games Not Require PS Plus?
I wish there were a complex answer to this simple question so I could go in-depth about it. But, unfortunately for my ego, the answer as to why free-to-play games do not require PS Plus is, in fact, a pretty simple one.
The reason why free-to-play games do not require PS Plus is that Sony said so when the PS4 was launched back in 2013. Of course, you could dig around the internet for hours to find a more complex answer, but that is the simple truth Sony said something, and that is the way it is.
Was Rocket League A Free PS Plus Game?
For those of you who don’t use PlayStation or have never signed up for PS Plus, you might be intrigued to know that you get a few free games every month as a PS Plus subscriber. However, most of the time, those games are not triple-A blockbusters; instead, they are Indies. That said, now and then, Sony releases a massive hit.
Rocket League was not one of those big blockbuster titles. The game was not very popular. It was an indie game, and people just saw it as a game where you hit a ball with a car, nothing much to it.
However, big things were happening on the PC scene when it came to Rocket League, but it wasn’t until Sony announced that it would be included in the PS Plus free lineup for July 2015 that the game took off.
Rocket league’s popularity in esports in and amongst competitive gamers can be attributed, at least partially, to Sony’s decision to make rocket League a free game for its PS Plus subscribers long before the game would go free-to-play. So you had one month to claim the game, and when you did, you could play forever as long as you have PS Plus.
PlayStation Games That Do Not Require PS Plus
Rocket League and Fortnite are not the only massive games that do not require PS Plus to play. There are so many more, and now that Destiny 2 has gone free-to-play, it is included in this list. We might do an article about Destiny 2 so keep an eye out for that.
Here is a small list of games that we think you should try out that don’t require a PS Plus subscription or any initial investment to play. Feel free to check out their trailers below the list.
- Warframe
- Fortnite
- Apex Legends
- Call of Duty Warzone
- Rocket League
- Destiny 2
- Neverwinter
- World of Tanks
- Dauntless
- Paladins
- Smite
- World of Warships
- Brawlhalla
- Warface
- Path of Exiles
There are many more, but those should be enough to get the point across.
Warframe
Fortnite
Apex Legends
Warzone
Rocket League
Destiny 2
Neverwinter
World of Tanks
Dauntless
Paladins
Smite
World of Warships
Brawlhalla
Warface
Path of Exiles
Final thoughts
Well, that brings us to the end of this Rocket League article. However, we do have more Rocket League articles to check out if you have any more questions. Both Xbox and Sony offer excellent services, and when it comes to PS Plus, I kind of like the service because I have managed to build a gaming library that most people are jealous of, thanks to the subscription.