Rocket League's 3v3 mode is the competitive standard: it's what the Rocket League Championship Series and other major tournaments use, and three players is the number that professional organizations sign to their rosters. In fact, when NBC's Universal Open announced a 2v2 format for its inaugural season last year, many top pro players openly complained about the mode and being forced to leave out a member of their squad.

But what if Rocket League's pro scene embraced more players on a team instead of less? Fans and players alike have long speculated what Rocket League would be like with a larger pitch and more players per team. Would it keep the kinetic feel and flow of current matches? How might it impact each player's role on a team? Could the servers or game engine even handle that kind of action?

Following a recent uptick in chatter about a dream 4v4 or 5v5 mode with an extended pitch, we asked many of Rocket League's top players about it at the RLCS World Championship in London last month — and got a wide mix of responses both for and against the idea.

Some pros are excited

While the concept of a larger Rocket League field and teams has been around for ages, it recently saw a lot more discussion on Twitter thanks to tweets from the likes of Cloud9's Mariano "SquishyMuffinz" Arruda and Renault Sport Team Vitality captain Philip "Paschy90" Paschmeyer. Along with other players, community members, and even Psyonix developers, it created a fresh dialogue around the possibility of taking Rocket League to new heights.

Squishy's tweet suggested testing an extended field and 5v5 mode, and mentioned that he'd love to see even an 11v11 mode with proper player positions. When we asked him about the 4v4 or 5v5 premise at the RLCS World Championship, he expanded further. "That's something I'd definitely like to see, if they extended the fields and added a player," he said. "I think that'd be a crazy skill ceiling — the things you could do with the team, the passes and stuff."

"Yeah, I agree. It'd be a cool idea to look at," said his Cloud9 teammate Kyle "Torment" Storer. "They'd definitely have to have a lot of testing and compare it to 3v3 to see if it's worth it, but I think it'd be cool to try out." Torment added that such a mode might require a longer game clock, and that extensive testing would be needed to hash out those kinds of details.

When we posed the question to Evil Geniuses, Gabriel "CorruptedG" Vallozzi admitted that it's something he's thought about and discussed quite often. "I've actually always wanted to test that out. I'm really curious how it would work. I always talk to other pros about what would happen if they made the map bigger, wider, or longer, whatever it is," he explained. "It'll introduce way more chemistry between teams. Passing would be way more important, which would be really fun to watch as well, and I'm just curious. I want them to do it eventually."

Now-former teammate Rob "Chrome" Gomez suggested that 4v4 on a larger field could expand out the current meta and bring in new mechanics, "like pre-flying passes and stuff like that, you never know." Evil Geniuses player Jason "Klassux" Klass then chimed in, suggesting that change is needed to help keep pro Rocket League exciting well into the future.

"I've always been very open to trying 4v4," said Klassux. "I feel like it would add a new meta to the game and really change the esports scene up—which I think we need at the moment because it's kind of staling out. Adding a bigger map and more players, I think it would be awesome. You'd have positions and everything."

NRG captain Jayson "Fireburner" Nunez is a longtime veteran of competitive Rocket League, and had played Psyonix's previous car-soccer game, Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars. He's seen the evolution in the competitive scene from that game to Rocket League, and believes that Rocket League can further evolve the premise forward into an expanded 4v4 experience — eventually, at least.

"Not yet, but I feel like once the skill cap is almost reached in 3s, it would be good to try 4v4 with a bigger map," he explained. "The prequel of this game, SARP, was 2v2 — everyone would play 2v2. Nobody would play 3v3, because it's like the same logic: it would feel too congested and everybody thought people would ball-chase. But then when Rocket League came out, the field was bigger, and people went from playing 2v2 to 3v3. I would assume the same logic would continue if they made a bigger field and 4v4 happen. I feel like that would work for sure."

Others not so much

Fireburner is excited about the prospect, but his NRG teammate Garrett "GarrettG" Gordon doesn't believe that expanding out from 3v3 would have that much of an impact. "Honestly, I think it would be mostly the same," he suggested. "I don't think set positions will ever have a place in Rocket League. I think it would still be rotations, just on a larger scale, and it would be a lot harder probably. Instead of triple-committing, you could quadruple-commit."

In fact, Rocket League already has a 4v4 mode — it's called "Chaos," and it absolutely lives up to the name. Granted, it takes place on the existing maps, which work well for 3v3 play but aren't really built for more cars. Ultimately, Chaos matches usually devolve into massive pileups of battle-cars jousting for possession, along with sloppy goals and never enough boost to go around. On top of that, it tends to runs choppier online because of the added server demand. Chiefs Esports Club player Daniel "Torsos" Parsons quipped, "I've played 4v4 in casual. It's awful."

And if Psyonix did expand the field, would they also tweak the physics and try to increase the speed of the game? If not, then compLexity players Otto "Metsanauris" Kaipiainen and Linus "Al0t" Möllergren don't see the point in trying to go larger.

"I don't think it would work. If you put 4v4 or 5v5 with a bigger field, it doesn't work just because the physics don't change — so the ball won't go faster," said Metsanauris. "Everyone's going to be in the same spot, and the length of the field doesn't really change that much since the physics are the same." Added Al0t, "If you make the field bigger and the ball is literally moving the same speed, it's going to make it take four years for the ball to come to either goal. It's not gonna work."

And while his teammates are keen on the idea, Cloud9's Jesus "Gimmick" Parra doesn't think the game will feel quite right on a larger pitch. "The thing about that is the more players and with a bigger field, it's going to be a slower-paced game," he said. "It's not going to be the same, and I don't think I would enjoy that as much."

G2 Esports player Dillon "Rizzo" Rizzo suggested that an expanded, high-level 4v4 experience might be too overwhelming for players. "I feel like even 4v4 for me personally would just be a bit too much," he said. And what about viewers? While it's plenty easy to watch pro Rocket League play as it is, the rapid speed of the game and current camera/interface options make it difficult to appreciate the nuances of successful team play. That could be further muddled by adding another player into the fray, not to mention more space for them to play in.

Besides, many pro Rocket League players already have an extensive wish list of improvements they want out of the game and the pro scene, whether it's larger prize pools, better server performance, or in-game team items to help support the organizations. Changing up the core game ranks pretty low on that list for most players. "I feel like they should focus on other things, like player branding and in-game decals for organizations," said NRG's Justin "Jstn" Morales.

Would a 4v4/5v5 mode catch on, or just be another diversion like Dropshot? © Psyonix

Ultimately, many players suggested that it's too significant of a change for Psyonix to make to the pro scene, and that it's too late to try and shake things up. The pro scene is already established and growing, and 3v3 play is the accepted norm — with the occasional 2v2 or 1v1 event in the fray. Expanding upon that concept would mean that teams would have to add players and overhaul their approach to the game, not to mention the increased investment for orgs.

Even players who support the prospect of a 4v4 or 5v5 mode with an expanded pitch think it's too severe of a change for pro play. G2's Jacob "JKnaps" Knapman said he thinks a 4v4 mode could work, albeit with a lot of experimentation to balance it out — but concluded that changing from 3v3 now would hurt the competitive community. "It's two and a half years into the game and the competitive scene. There's no need to change now," he said. "That's just gonna ruin it."

And if Psyonix did build out an expanded pitch and make the adjustments needed to get it running smoothly, there's no guarantee that it would catch on with pros. "I see it as another Rumble/Dropshot/Hoops," said G2 captain Cameron "Kronovi" Bills, referring to Rocket League's various alternative modes. "It would be cool for like a week, and that's about it."

The reality

While it's something that many pros have put a lot of thought into, there's no indication that Psyonix actually plans to build and test a larger pitch for expanded teams to play on. Enlarging each map and adding more cars would tax the game engine, and lower-end PC hardware and consoles (especially the Nintendo Switch) could struggle to handle the added load. Add bandwidth demands into the fray and the concept seems out of reach — for now, at least.

Art Mata, Psyonix's graphics engineer on Rocket League, engaged with players who discussed the idea, and shared some idea of the potential engine demands. Ultimately, he advised that anyone invested in the idea might try to bring it to life via modding and see if it takes hold as a grassroots sensation. "I highly suggest people who are championing 5v5 to reach out to modders," he tweeted . "With mods you don't really have to worry about PC spec limitations, console performance, or making it pretty. If it's the new hotness, it'll catch on, DayZ style." (YouTuber SunlessKhan tried just that with 11v11, as seen embedded below.)

When we asked RLCS analyst Randy "Gibbs" Gibbons about the 5v5 concept at the RLCS World Championship, he suggested that players aren't necessarily mindful of the developmental costs for Psyonix, but that the discussion comes from restlessness from playing standardized car-soccer. "Of course we want experimentation at some point, because everyone is getting a little bored here and there, but that's why I always push for non-standard maps," he explained.

Last fall, Psyonix announced that all maps in the ranked competitive modes would feature the exact same dimensions , despite differing backdrops, and that the existing non-standard maps would be pulled from the rotation. In the developer's view, it's a matter of making Rocket League feel more like a sport — but opinions vary wildly within the competitive scene. Some players love the idea of standardized maps where they can rely on consistent bounces off of surfaces, while others see the need for variety and experimentation to keep things fresh.

RLCS caster/analyst James "Jamesbot" Villar suggested that the discussion over a possible 4v4 or 5v5 mode is tied into the non-standard maps debate, and that pros and players want to be a part of the process of defining what Rocket League is — and what it could be. "I think what that whole situation was on Twitter was a hunger to have influence over the future of Rocket League, and feeling like they have a voice in the direction of the game. And that they want something different in terms of game modes," said Jamesbot.

"Now we have people 8,000 hours into the game, and they just want to see if they can experience the game in a new way that is fun to them," he continued. "I think 5v5 specifically, that idea with more players was just something that caught a little bit on Twitter. But I think the general sentiment is, 'We as a Rocket League community, especially the elite players who have put a lot of hours in the game, want to experiment.' And they want to have a voice in that experimentation."

Even if it ultimately doesn't lead to a new mode or an overhaul of the pro scene, Gibbs suggests that the dialogue between top players and developers is healthy for the game. "Every player should always be pushing for more experimentation," he said. "It's a push-pull, but I love the conversation. And that's what we need: conversation between devs and players. That's always great to see."