New Rocket League Championship Series X to feature $4.5 million prize pool

The Rocket League Championship Series X (RLCS X) is going to be the next evolution of the esports and will feature a prize pool of over $4.5 million for the best teams in the world to vie for.

Psyonix will be moving away from their traditional League Play format with a bi-annual season to an open event-based circuit format that will eventually lead to the World Championship. The global competition is going to extend across four major regions that includes North America, Europe, Oceania, and South America.

“We believe this format strikes a healthy balance between open competition and rewarding consistent, high-level performance,” Psyonix said in the announcement.

RLCS X Formats

A full season of the RLCS X in North America and Europe will consist of three splits: Fall, Winter, and Spring. Within these splits, there will be three standalone ‘Regional Events’ each for North America and Europe, meaning there will be six per split. With a total of three splits, that translates to 18 Regional Events in RLCS X.

In partnership with Battlefy, each Regional Event will have an Open Qualifier for orgs and aspiring pros to sign up. At the end of every split, there will be a Major event – three over the course of the season.

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All three splits (Fall, Winter, Spring) will feature different formats. The Fall will have a 32-team format, while the Winter portion will whittle down to a 24-team setup, and eventually cutting down all the way down to 2 -teams in the Spring.

Psyonix indicated they will be working with tournament organizers in Oceania and South American to “create their own circuit of events that will serve as official pathways to Majors and the World Championship.”

RLCS X Fall Split

Teams who qualified for the RLCS Season 9 will have an auto-invite to the Regional Event, so they don’t have to go through the Open Qualifiers to fight for one of the 32 spots.

Also, those who earn their spot in the previous Rival Series season will be “auto-seeded into Day 3 of the Open Qualifiers.”

Once all 32 teams have been determined, they will be split into two groups of 16 in a Swiss format event. That will determine the top 8 of both groups, who will then combine for a top 16 in total before another Swiss format takes place.

The final eight from there will move on to a single-elimination bracket that will eventually crown one of the three Regional Event champions.

Each tournament awards RLCS Circuit Points based on standing toward its respective region’s International Major, and teams with the most points across the Splits and Majors will be invited to the World Championship. The actual breakdown of the points has not yet been revealed.

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RLCS X Prize Pools

Over $4.5 million will be awarded throughout the entirety of the three splits among the regions, with the World Championship having the biggest pool up for grabs.

Every Regional Event will award $100,000 in prizes while Major tournaments will up the ante to a $250,000 pot per split.

The Rocket League World Championship will provide $1,000,000 in prizes, although the breakdown per tier was not disclosed. Once more, Psyonix will work with South American and Oceanic TOs to have their own point system and increased prize pools which they will reveal at a later date.

The Grid

The Grid will be a weekly tournament circuit where squads will be competing for ‘Grid Points.’ Incentives for placing high in this competition will award orgs with prize money, better seeding, and a spot at the Majors.

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There will be nine weekly tournaments per split. Teams will be awarded Grid Points and a slice of the $10,000 weekly prize pool depending on their standing.

These points will “inform” seeding for Regional Events, and the team with the most accumulated Grid Points will qualify for that split’s Major.

Here’s where it gets interesting: Once an RLCS split ends, the top 10 teams will secure their spot for the next split. Meanwhile, the bottom six teams will have to fight for their spot by competing in The Grid.

The first season of this circuit will consist of 16 teams who “earned RLCS and Rival Series auto-qualifications via their performance in Season 9.” There won’t be any carry-over of Grid Points from split-to-split, and these points have no bearing on World Championship qualification.

Psyionix did not reveal when the Fall Split of RLCS X will take place, but the deadline for teams to sign up for the new format is on July 24 10 AM PT / 1 PM EST / 6 PM BST.