American game development company Psyonix is joining the Epic Games family. Psyonix, known primarily for its soccer-driving competitive title Rocket League, was acquired by Epic Games on May 1, 2019. 

Psyonix made the announcement via rocketleague.com, including information regarding the acquisition and its potential impact on the Rocket League community. In addition to the FAQ breakdown of the merger, Psyonix put heavy emphasis on this being a move that can improve the outreach of the growing Rocket League community.

Rocket League will become available on the new Epic Games store later this year. Despite initially claiming that Rocket League would be removed from Valve's Steam, given its competition with the Epic Games store, Psyonix recently added an editor's note confirming the game will continue to be supported and available on Steam. Psyonix also clarified that none of the Rocket League gameplay would be changed, and that the Psyonix team would not be changed outside of Epic's backing.

Epic Games' acquisition of Psyonix has the potential to be a huge boost to the Rocket League Esports ecosystem. However, the community response on both Epic Games' and Psyonix's twitter announcements has been overwhelmingly negative. Epic Games has come under fire for its management of Fortnite Esports and a lack of competitive balance.

University of Georgia collegiate Fortnite duo Mister.Lemon and JACK0 expressed displeasure with Epic's recent handling of the game in an interview following their victory at Collegiate Stargate Nationals: 

The duo quit competitive Fortnite on the spot, and they aren't alone. Popular Fortnite player Tfue said that the Fortnite World Cup would be his last competitive Fortnite venture. The competitive Rocket League community seems concerned that its game will be subject to the similar approach Epic Games has taken to Fortnite, which, in the eyes of the community, would be unfavorable.

Still, it is undeniable that Epic Games gives Psyonix a plethora of resources for the growth of Rocket League. The transaction is still pending, and is expected close towards the end of May or early June. The first event following the transaction's closing will be the the Rocket League Championship Series finals. The 7th season of RLCS will conclude starting on June 21st, 2019 - June 23rd, 2019 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.