Rocket League is getting a new competitive rank: Supersonic Legend

(Image credit: Psyonix)

Starting soon, Grand Champion will no longer be the highest competitive rank in Rocket League. When the free-to-play update hits, Grand Champ will be split into three tiers like the other ranks, and a new top rank will be added: Supersonic Legend.

In retrospect, I should've known this was coming, because after I bragged about hitting champ in April, Psyonix co-studio head Corey Davis replied on Twitter: "Time to add more ranks." I didn't know he was actually going to do it, the devil.

Here's the new rank chart:

Left to right: Bronze I-III, Silver I-III, Gold I-III, Platinum I-III, Diamond I-III, Champion I-III, Grand Champion I-III, Supersonic Legend. (Image credit: Psyonix)

And here are some other changes coming with the free-to-play update:

Competitive seasons, Rocket Passes, and the revamped tournaments will now follow the same schedule.
A tutorial is being added for new players.
The Rocket ID Friends list will be called the "Epic Friends" list.
The Merc is getting a unique hitbox, which brings the total number of hitboxes to six.
The Solo Standard Playlist is being removed. (I ignored this playlist but I suspect some might be sad to see it go.)

Psyonix still hasn't announced an exact date for the free-to-play update, but says it should arrive sometime in the middle of this month, so within the next three weeks or so.

When the update hits, all of these changes will take effect and new PC players will be able to pick up Rocket League for free on the Epic Store. It will no longer be available to new players on Steam, but existing PC players will be able to keep using the Steam version, and it'll keep getting updates.

Today's blog post includes more details on seasons and ranks, and how the free-to-play transition will go. If you missed the original news that it's going free-to-play, you can find the details here. For current players, the gist is that you're going to get some free in-game stuff as a thank you for buying it,.

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.