Abstract

This paper explores the idea that people who consume and play video games form communities and tools to enhance their experience. The tools, communities and methods can all be differentiated from each other by their game of choice. The focal point of this paper will be the 2015 sports game ‘Rocket League’. Communities can be defined by their developer discussion, whether they have a competitive scene, the means and methods of communication and how the players respond to changes or new trends. The paper will be exploring tools such as online forums, chat clients, VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) and gaming online with players from a global background. Online communities cannot be accurately depicted without mentioning the recent emergence of ‘Esports’, a form of organized competition using video games as their medium. From the days of two-dimensional games like ‘Super Mario Brothers’ and ‘Pong’ to the modern era, gaming has undergone technical shifts while society has undergone a shift in perspective towards those who play video games.

Rocket League and its relevance in gaming culture

People that consume video games form communities around the games they play with the intention of cultivating a network of like-minded individuals. This paper will be specifically focusing on the ways in which consumers of ‘Rocket League’ partake in such intimate networking. This paper argues that Rocket League players form an intimate online community by their utilisation of online networking tools like social media and Discord. An online community is one in which people socially communicate as they aim to satisfy goals and reach a shared purpose. A community is bound by rules, social etiquette and protocols (Koivisto, 2003). Intimacy can be established by the sharing of feelings, ideas and emotions between two people. Online gaming has become a medium for people to make friends from different walks of life that they would not have necessarily encountered in their daily lives. For many players, interacting with those around them has practical benefits that lead to success in-game whether that be the completion of a quest or a stronger team in competitive play (Williams et al., 2006).
Rocket League is a sports game, developed by Psyonix that released in 2015. It released on PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. The game centres around two teams playing a game of soccer with the caveat being that it is played in small cars on a large pitch. In the four years since the game’s release, it has become one of the world’s largest competitive games, sharing the honour with games such as ‘Fortnite’, ‘Counter Strike’ and ‘Apex Legends’. The game has many branches of community ranging from the local scenes, international competitions, streaming and online forums. Rocket League released in July 2015, two months after the online communication tool ‘Discord’ released. Discord paved the way for mass online communities to interact across a diverse range of devices. Players can make channels with the option of leaving them open for anyone to discover or invitation only to maintain control over the participants in their network. Discord has been a vital tool in the cultivation of social gaming networks. To talk about online communities without mentioning the prevalence of Discord in contemporary society would be a disservice to the platform and the gaming community. Discord is not strictly limited to gaming communities although that has become its primary use, it is structured to be used for alternative communities or social circles.

Understanding the stigma

In the past there has been a stipulation that people who play video games are inherently anti-social. In recent years, gamers have worked to destigmatise their hobby and challenge the idea that they lack social skills. Gaming has become one of the most prevalent social hobbies in contemporary society, whether that be fully fledged AAA games or a small independent developer for mobile phones. In the past, people like myself were singled out for playing games but now it seems that it is more unusual for someone to not play games. Now it is not uncommon for people to form bonds online over the internet creating: clans, guilds, communities, networks and social ties (Trepte, Reinecke & Juechems, 2012).
Rocket League is one of only a handful of games that allow for full cross-platform play. That being, no matter what platform you purchase the game on, you can play with other players on any other platform. This is somewhat of a landmark achievement as cross-platform play is a relatively new concept that has been introduced. Cross-Platform play enables players to play with low search times as they can pull players from a much wider pool of Rocket League players. Search times for games are near instantaneous as there are no restrictions on who can play with each other. Cross-Platform play also enables friends who own different consoles to bridge the gap dividing them from playing together.

The Forefront of gaming culture

Rocket League is a game that is still at the forefront of gaming culture, even four years after its release. This is likely due to a combination of factors including but not limited to: Esports championships, active developer discussion, a large Discord following, custom modifications and the simple nature of the game. Rocket League is still one of the games with the highest audience retention on streaming platforms such as Twitch because of how competitive a match can get. It has led to the development of the Rocket League Championship Series that spans the North America, Europe and Oceania regions (“Twitch and Psyonix Announce Official Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS)”, 2016). Rocket League, being a sports game enables it to be very digestible by a mainstream audience. The Rocket League discord channel currently contains more than 125000 members some of which are developers of the game. The reason that the community continues to thrive is a combination of a competitive scene, the game is being regularly updated and the developer’s interaction with their player base. The Rocket League Discord has various sub channels including general discussion, Esports discussion, coaching tips, highlights and item trading. These sub channels allow for refined conversation without the need to filter out inane chatter that isn’t relevant to the topic a player wants to discuss with like-minded individuals. People go to the Discord to organise training, play private matches with unique rulesets and to voice their opinion on the state of the game.

Seeking social interaction

People typically seek social interaction whether it is for emotional, practical or status reasons. They aim to date people, meet people, seek help or broaden their circles (Di Loreto & Gouaich, 2010). This contrasts the idea that people who play video games are inherently anti-social as people do seek connection online through their video games as evidenced by the Rocket League community. The Rocket League community is one of many examples of a thriving online gaming community, but it is one that has longevity and is still relevant today. The Rocket League community is one built upon social gaming, shared interest in a common topic and a place for those who want to find people to play against can go and seek out these things. While the notion that people who play video games are inherently anti-social may have been true in a pre-internet era it is no longer the case. Whether it is through chatrooms, Facebook groups, Discord, instant messengers or voice chats, people are more connected now than they were in the past. Technological advancements have helped people connect from different backgrounds that share common interests. Meeting people in your area online has become a more societally acceptable way of making friends, it is not the scary unknown it once was. People will always seek out connection with those they can relate to which is why digital friendships are tangible and real to many. Some players use games as a tool to strengthen relationships with friends and loved ones.

Common goals

Working towards common goals with someone should build trust and understanding between them which allows for better communication in a relationship or more efficient work in a working relationship (Steinkuehler & Williams, 2006). People have different reasons for playing or not playing video games. For some, it is a way to relax after a long day of work. Others may see it as a waste of time as there are no tangible benefits to hold, touch or achieve. Some take playing video games seriously and have made careers out of it. Gaming for social interaction is a real and valid reason to play video games especially in contemporary society where it has been aided by technological advancements, changes in social values and changes in people’s emotional states. People make a conscious choice to spend money and time on video games. Some reasons include: to communicate, to connect to new people in a different way, to improve their emotional state, to perform a social action, to have experiences they cannot in the real world and to open conversation and discussion (Frostling-Henningsson, 2009). Communication between people is important and one of the best proven ways to improve it is by striving to work together towards a common goal. Video games offer quests, challenges and incentives to work as a unified team to achieve these goals. Cooperative play is often enjoyable with people you know on a personal level, but it is not restrictive. Players are known to meet teammates online, add them to a ‘friends’ list and then play with them again. This behaviour is often encouraged by game developers with programs like ‘refer a friend’ or ‘buy one, get a copy for a friend’. As a player of video games for nearly two decades, I can say that I have deepened personal relationships through regular play while also meeting like-minded individuals from across the globe on this digital platform.

Evolution

Video games have evolved and changed as a medium since their inception in the late 20th century. They were once a niche targeted at a limited audience whereas now, they dominate entertainment culture. Video games are no longer produced exclusively for computers or video game consoles, they are now accessible on mobile phones, televisions and tablet computers. Gaming as an entertainment form has transcended the medium it was originally built upon. Mobile connectivity and the prevalence of phones dominating the technology market has led to the development of countless applications with permutations of the same idea being created daily. One of the biggest mobile games is ‘Candy Crush Saga’, it has dominated the mobile gaming marketplace since its release in 2012. The social element of being able to compare scores with friends has allowed the game to have the longevity it has had. Video games are becoming more widely accepted as a source of entertainment with parity to other mediums such as film, television and music. Video games are unique in that they are an interactive experience that require input from the user.
The success of ‘Rocket League’ can be attributed to the unique method in which it was distributed. The game was available for one month for free to subscribers of Sony’s PlayStation Plus program. In the month following release, Rocket League became one of the highest watched games on Twitch and one of the most popular games of the time. This success can be attributed to putting the game in the hands of as many players as possible (Needleman, 2015).

Conclusion

It is difficult to measure where video games will head in the future with the development of boundary-pushing technology such as Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, but one thing remains sure, gaming will continue to be a ‘water cooler’ topic that encourages social interaction and integration. There once was a stigma around the act of playing video games which has now been destigmatised and normalised for a generalist audience. Video games have never been more inclusive that now with a plethora of genres to select from including action, sports, role-playing, and more. Social gaming has never been more popular with games being constructed with cooperative play in mind to entice player retention which, in a world where the gaming marketplace has so many options, is a quintessential role of the game developer. The online communities and networks we form are becoming a vital part of being a participant in gaming culture.

References

Di Loreto, I., & Gouaich, A. (2010). Social Casual Games Success is not so Casual. In HAL-LIRMM (p.
2). CCSD. Retrieved from https://hal- lirmm.ccsd.cnrs.fr/lirmm-00486934
Frostling-Henningsson, M. (2009). First-Person Shooter Games as a Way of Connecting to People:
“Brothers in Blood”. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 12(5), 560-561. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2008.0345
Koivisto, E. (2003). Supporting Communities in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games by
Game Design (p. 1). Tampere, Finland: Nokia Research Center. Retrieved from
http://www.digra.org/dl/db/05150.48442.pdf
Needleman, S. (2015). How ‘Rocket League’ Became 2015’s Surprise Videogame Hit. Retrieved from
https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/12/17/how-rocket-league-became-2015s- surprise-videogame-hit/
Steinkuehler, C., & Williams, D. (2006). Where Everybody Knows Your (Screen) Name: Online Games as
“Third Places”. Journal Of Computer- Mediated Communication, 11(4), 885-891. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-
6101.2006.00300.x
Trepte, S., Reinecke, L., & Juechems, K. (2012). The social side of gaming: How playing online
computer games creates online and offline social support. Computers In Human Behavior, 28(3),
832-833. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2011.12.003
Twitch and Psyonix Announce Official Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS). (2016). Retrieved
from https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160302005519/en/Twitch-
Psyonix-Announce-Official-Rocket-League-Championship
Williams, D., Ducheneaut, N., Xiong, L., Zhang, Y., Yee, N., & Nickell, E. (2006). From Tree House
to Barracks. Games And Culture, 1(4), 351. doi:
10.1177/1555412006292616

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.