When the world’s top Rocket League teams battle it out at this weekend’s Season 6 Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) World Championship in Las Vegas, they’ll contend for a share of $500K—double the amount from last season’s World Championship, and part of a $1M overall prize pool for this entire season.

Developer Psyonix has invested significantly more money into prizing this season, and Rocket League’s esports scene has been bolstered outside of the RLCS by events like Turner Sports’ The ELEAGUE Cup and NBC Sports’ Universal Open: Rocket League. Amidst that growth, Rocket League has seen dozens of esports organizations flood into the scene, including G2 Esports , Cloud9 , and Dignitas .

Behind the scenes, however, some of the organizations that have invested in the Rocket League scene are frustrated with the lack of revenue sharing in the game, and what they perceive as slow progress and vague promises from Psyonix. Following departures from Team Envy and Counter-Logic Gaming in recent months, multiple sources suggest that additional organizations could leave the game without the short-term addition of meaningful changes to benefit the teams that pay players’ salaries and drive awareness around competitions.

The Esports Observer spoke with organizations and others within the pro scene to get their view on Rocket League‘s sustainability, and what they think is still needed to continue organizational investment in the esport.

Behind The Scenes

Rocket League saw a trickle of larger organizations come into the league in Season 2, including G2 and NRG , but it was following the Season 3 World Championship in June 2017—which netted peak viewership of more than 200K—that organizations began pouring into the scene. That offseason saw the likes of Cloud9 and Team Envy come in, for example.

Behind the scenes, a source said that team salaries in North America and the top end of Europe spiked as organizations fought to hold onto their star rosters in a growing esport. Some of the organizations that adopted the game in its early days had pushed for in-game items and revenue sharing features during those initial RLCS seasons; in particular, FlipSid3 Tactics founder Hector Rosario has been outspoken about his own attempts to engage Psyonix on the subject. As costs climbed and more viewers came in, it became a regular talking point for more and more organizations and players.

The problem, as multiple sources told The Esports Observer, was that Psyonix wasn’t planning to make any short-term moves. Twitch operated the RLCS for the first four seasons, but Psyonix ultimately decided which content went into the actual game. After Season 4, Psyonix took over operations for the league itself, as well. Sources claim that queries from organizations about in-game items and revenue sharing were typically met with vague responses, if anything at all.

Blake “CloudFuel” Tull, an esports program manager with Twitch, used to help run the RLCS and has long been a key figure in the competitive scene for his pre-RLCS community-building efforts. He maintains close relationships with players and teams in the scene, and says that many of their frustrations over Psyonix’s approach are still funneled his way—but he doesn’t have a say in the league anymore.

“It’s difficult for me to see where things are at in the esports scene. I just want the best for the players,” said Tull. “I have players/orgs coming to me regularly asking what I can do to help, and it makes sense that they do that, because I used to be the guy they’d go to. Now, unfortunately, I’m in a position where as much as I want to help them, there’s just not a lot I can do.” “What I tell them is: Go talk to Psyonix. Tell them your concerns. If you’re a player, talk to your organization and urge them to talk to Psyonix,” he continued. “But it sounds like this is all falling on deaf ears. They’re reaching out, and they’re either not getting a response, or they’re getting a response that doesn’t really give them the answers that they’re looking for.”

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Teams are frustrated with the current economics of the scene.[/perfectpullquote]

Rocket League‘s top organizations might be on opposite sides of the pitch during competition, but recently, many of them joined forces to use their collective weight to try and get answers. Sources said that upwards of 15 current organizations in the game sent a joint email to Psyonix demanding a roadmap for the esports scene and their place in it.

One source at an active Rocket League esports organization said that teams are frustrated with the current economics of the scene, especially the lack of any revenue-sharing models in place. It has top teams reconsidering their future in the game, and sources suggest that multiple organizations could leave without significant changes. The organization source said that the scene “might be gutted” as a result. Another source described a potential “exodus,” claiming that at least one organization plans to leave after the season, with others teetering on the edge.

Psyonix was slow to offer a meaningful response to the group email, said a source, but the company eventually sent out non-disclosure agreements and claimed to be working on something for 2019.

Struggling to Find an Org

New organizations may also be hesitant about joining the pro Rocket League scene. Unless something changes in the next couple of days, the World Championship will feature a team that is not signed to an organization: We Dem Girlz. It will be the first time since Season 3 that an unsigned team will compete on the big stage. Anchored by captain Remco “Remkoe” den Boer, a past RLCS champion and six-season league veteran, the roster last played under Team Envy before the organization left the RLCS this summer.

In early October, den Boer tweeted, “No, we are not close to signing. Unfortunately, Psyonix chooses to be extremely non-transparent with where they’re headed. An org with teams in 13(!) esports titles but refuses to even talk to RLCS/RLRS teams must have a reason for it.” In an interview with The Esports Observer, den Boer said that there had been little movement in negotiating with organizations until recently, and that talks with larger organizations were now developing slowly.

According to den Boer, one organization claimed that Psyonix had told them in early 2017 that revenue sharing features wouldn’t arrive until at least 2019 or 2020. He also suggested that some organizations may be wary of the lack of a franchising model, as seen in the League of Legends Championship Series and Overwatch League, for example—and that in any case, he sensed that organizations aren’t getting the answers they seek.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”If things were good, orgs wouldn’t be leaving.”[/perfectpullquote]

“Psyonix is very careful with disclosing some information to orgs without contracts being in place, which is understandable, but it’s definitely taking them way too long to ‘get these contracts in place,’” he said, seemingly referencing a comment attributed to Psyonix esports program specialist Murty “Scheist” Shah about the company’s need to secure legal relationships with organizations before pushing ahead with branded in-game items.

“I’m not part of an org that talks to Psyonix directly, but I’m assuming they aren’t getting enough details about Psyonix’s plans and their vision of the game,” continued den Boer. “Many people saw the prize pool increase as a really good move by Psyonix, which it was, but it was certainly done to keep the community quieter about things as Psyonix knew they couldn’t bring any other changes quickly enough. The prize pool increase was at least something they could get done for this season to keep the people happy.”

Despite his criticisms, den Boer wanted to make it clear that he still “fully believes in Psyonix managing to get things right in the future,” and that he’s been privy to some of the company’s plans in that regard. “They definitely listen to the community and what they have had to say about this stuff; they just couldn’t move as fast as people wanted,” he added. “No hard feelings to them, and I hope we can all work things out together. [I’m] still extremely thankful I get to play this game on a professional level, and without Psyonix, that wouldn’t have been possible.”

While den Boer remains optimistic, Tull points to We Dem Girlz’s struggles as a sign of trouble in the scene, and said that he has tried on behalf of the team to help them find a new home.

“If things were good, orgs wouldn’t be leaving. We wouldn’t have a team like We Dem Girlz, which is comprised of some of the best players that have ever graced the field of Rocket League, going an entire season without an organization picking them up,” said Tull. “I wouldn’t have to go out of my way to put together a pitch deck and try to sell orgs on picking this team up, and basically be laughed at as like, ‘Why in the hell would I pick this team up?’ And it’s not because of the team, it’s because of the scene.” “I don’t know if Psyonix realizes that. I hope that they do,” Tull added. “But if they don’t, this needs to be a wake-up call to them that if you care about your esports scene, you need to do something about this. You need to address it.”

Psyonix’s Plans

Psyonix has since publicly disclosed intentions to do just that. In response to a request from The Esports Observer for comment last week, a Psyonix representative sent the link to a newly-posted announcement about its plans for a pilot program for in-game items based on esports organizations.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Rocket League‘s other existing monetization systems aren’t the right fit for esports.[/perfectpullquote]

According to the post, the system will be implemented before the Season 7 RLCS World Championship concludes. Psyonix’s head of esports Josh Watson acknowledged the growing debate about in-game organization items, but suggested that the company doesn’t think that simply selling branded car skins or items is the solution.

“Many have suggested the idea of just throwing a few skins into a DLC pack and calling it a day,” he wrote, “but the realities of development and partnerships is that there is significantly more to consider; especially when developing complex systems for downloadable content associated with esports organizations.”

According to its in-game data from sales of non-esports item crates and branded vehicles (from the likes of Jurassic World and Batman), Psyonix doesn’t believe that simply selling branded in-game items will generate effective revenue for organizations. “Rocket League‘s other existing monetization systems aren’t the right fit for esports either, which means that the right system doesn’t exist yet,” Watson wrote. “The right choice for everyone is to build something new.”

The announcement provides few concrete details, but it finally puts a public stamp on Psyonix’s stance towards in-game items. Granted, it may be some time before the system rolls out, but it’s something. Watson added in his post that the team has been working “behind the scenes” on this new revenue sharing system for several months and will release more details closer to its launch.

It remains to be seen what form Rocket League‘s in-game esports items take, and whether there will be further revenue-sharing features added down the line. Just this year, other growing esports scenes have introduced different approaches to revenue sharing with teams.

Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Pro League launched its own pilot program for in-game items, offering weapon skins and branded charms for sale based on organizations like PENTA Sports and Evil Geniuses . The program split 21% of revenue amongst all teams, while another 9% will be added to the prize pool of the Six International 2019 tournament, Rainbow Six Siege‘s de facto world championship.

PUBG Corp announced plans to launch professional PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds leagues across four regions in 2019, with all of them including revenue sharing features. It also offered team-based, in-game cosmetics for purchase at the PUBG Global Invitational 2018 tournament in July. Elsewhere, Blizzard Entertainment’s Heroes of the Storm recently reintroduced a Twitch campaign that allows fans to donate “bits”, the broadcast platform’s donation currency, to teams and receive in-game items as a result.

What Orgs Are Saying

Some esports organizations declined comment or did not respond to requests, but The Esports Observer spoke to the heads of two current organizations in Rocket League. Prior to the in-game items announcement, compLexity Gaming founder and CEO Jason Lake suggested that changes were needed to ensure that the game’s esports scene has legs well into the future. “I believe Rocket League is a fantastic game that can be a strong sports title for years if a sustainable economic ecosystem is developed sooner rather than later,” he said.

He then seemed encouraged by last week’s news, tweeting, “Really like the sound of this! We will see how it plays out in reality but I’m optimistic. Win/win for developers and esports orgs to collaborate.”

When Dignitas signed the reigning RLCS champions away from Gale Force Esports in May, incoming CEO Mike Prindiville—who previously co-created and oversaw the Universal Open Rocket League at NBC Sports—was high on the esport’s future. Asked again about it as part of a wider-ranging interview that will post later this week, Prindiville affirmed his belief in the esport, but also suggested that publishers and organizations need to coexist in a successful pro scene.

“I still believe that Rocket League has Tier 1 IP potential. That’s no doubt. I believe that Rocket League could be the biggest esport in the world,” he said. “The thing with esports is that leading publishers of Tier 1 games are changing their ways. They’re seeing the value of organizations, and when working with organizations, they’re starting to see positive externalities around viewership and the competitiveness of their scene. They’re starting to understand that there’s a real business there. I think the publishers that recognize that are the ones who are going to win. Those who neglect that may not, and they risk that. I’m not speaking directly about any publisher when I say that—I’m just saying that that’s how you win in esports.”

Prindiville called the in-game items pilot program announcement “a good start,” but that it also “sounds like it’s still pretty far away,” he said. “It’s something that I think we’ve heard about for a long time.”

While still positive about the prospect of Rocket League‘s esports growth ahead, he said that in-game items are just the first step of potentially many that could help organizations. He’d love to see a franchising model at some point, but even if the RLCS doesn’t eventually embrace that kind of league design, he sees further room for improvement.

“I don’t know the specifics around [the pilot program]. Maybe when I hear the specifics, I’ll be overjoyed about it. But I think that’s a good step. There are multiple steps that should be done in order to create a more sustainable esports league,” he said. “It runs the gamut: you see leagues that are franchising. I dream of the day that Rocket League franchises and geolocates within cities. That would be a dream for me. Is that going to happen? I hope it does. But that’s just one example. It starts with in-game items, and then I think the scale goes all the way up to franchising. There’s a lot of steps in between there that can be covered.”

UPDATE: Following the release of this article, Blake “CloudFuel” Tull clarified his comments on Twitter, noting his comments were his own, and not related to any official stance by Twitch.