For the complete list of panels, check out the main TwitchCon 2016 Panel Recap post.

VoD link: https://www.twitch.tv/twitchconfrankerz/v/93571104
FrankerZ Theater Day Two
Moderator: Nick Allen
Participants: Kronovi, Justin Dellario, Josh Watson, Luke Thompson

• To Josh/Luke: How did you think about Rocket League and eSports as Rocket League’s success grew?
  • Early on knew there was eSports potential. Easy to watch, intuitive, and has an “easy to pick up but hard to master” factor. First set on making the game fun, then supported eSports once the demand from the community grew. Saw the initiative from the community and chose to support it.

• To Justin: What was the sentiment about Rocket League from the eSports scene?
  • Was working at Razer when Rocket League came out.
  • Remembered someone telling him about the game. He thought it would appeal to a niche viewership from variety streamers.
  • Once started watching and playing, he started to understand its potential.

• To Kronovi: What were your thoughts on Rocket League starting out?
  • It was everything he always wanted.

• To Josh/Luke: What were your thoughts/feelings once the community showed strong demand for RL eSports? What was the most important thing internally venturing into RL eSports?
  • What was important is maintaining the ecosystem that the community started.
  • Brought in lots of community casters.
  • Wanted to make sure to come out strong with Rocket League eSports. High end broadcasting and set design.
  • Community was #1 priority. It’s what started RL eSports and we didn’t want to disturb that.
  • Wanted to make sure Rocket League was nice to look at and entertaining.

• To Kronovi: As RL eSports was developing, what were your thoughts/feelings?
  • The game started out as tournaments just for fun or maybe a very small prize pool.
  • Once RLCS was announced, it blew everything out of the water. It was surreal.

• To Josh/Luke: As the community was getting excited, how were you doing?
  • Great seeing the community excited but worked hard internally to make sure everything was the best it could be for them.
  • Expectations were exceeded.

• To Justin/Josh/Luke: Talk about the launch of RLCS and what went on within Twitch/Psyonix?
  • Was already known RLCS was a great product.
  • Did not expect the amount of people signing up.
  • Justin – Expected 500-1500 teams. Got ~40, 000 players signing up for the open qualifiers. This caused many questions directed at me through 11, 000 emails as we didn’t have a customer service email at that moment.
  • They were worried they couldn’t support that amount of people for a tournament.
  • Josh – Shocked at the amount of people who wanted to participate. The office was excited and had expectations that were exceeded. It fueled more interest in new ideas for Rocket League.

• To Kronovi: What was it like for you gathering so much attention through RLCS/Streaming?
  • Very proud to see the community just give the game a shot and see what it was about.
  • Was very tiring qualifying as it was 10 hours of bracket.
  • Respect everybody who got through the thousands of other players to make it through the bracket.

• To Josh/Luke: What did you take away from the launch of RLCS going into future seasons/competitions?
  • Learned a lot and still learning.
  • Want a good player experience. To enable them to compete without problems. Also wanted to make sure the marketing advertising was supported and proper relationships were built/held.

• To Kronovi: What were the finals of Season 1 RLCS like for you?
  • Very surreal.
  • Had to walk in with a sub as one of our players dropped down right before.
  • Thought the production side of things was extremely well done.

• To Justin: How was the event for you?
  • Was a tremendous success. Viewership was above what was projected.
  • The best part was feeling like we serviced the amazing community properly.
  • At a high level, we learned to not worry about things because the event exceeded expectations.

• To Josh/Luke: What was it like walking into the live event of the Season 1 RLCS finals? How did Psyonix feel after?
  • Tried to make it feel like Rocket League. Walking in half way through the venue being set up I (Josh) was still blown away.
  • It was a bit nerve wracking. Just wanted to do the game justice.
  • After everything was taking care of, it was emotional. This event was the culmination of everyone getting together.
  • Seeing such high level play and such an energetic crowd was amazing.
  • The event was more than just doing something for eSports. It was like a family reunion for Rocket League.

• To Kronovi: How did you and your team feel leading up to the finals?
  • Stayed in the upper bracket through Day 1.
  • Was very excited going into Day 2. Was able to look through the crowd/community for support.

• To Justin: How did you feel coming out of the event?
  • Received lots of congratulations on the success of the event.
  • Always felt like a Season 2 would be coming shortly after Season 1. Season 2 was announced a few weeks after Season 1 ended.
  • Saw how passionate the community was in supporting RL eSports. Looks to the future to how they can improve events.

• To Josh/Luke: Can you talk about what the aftermath of RLCS S1 Finals was like?
  • Once the finals were done, tried to review all the feedback as to how they can improve.
  • Got right back to work after the event was over.
  • At Pysonix, there is a long term vision of eSports.

• To Josh/Luke: After RLCS S1 Finals, were expectations changed for the future?
  • You never know what’s going to be successful.
  • The success didn’t change a ton on the drawing board; it solidified what was done properly.

• To Kronovi: What was life like for you and the team after the S1 Finals win? What was it like getting picked up by G2?
  • Rode the high, but maintained focus for the future.
  • Appreciated getting picked up by G2. It’s comforting being under an organization. They can take care of a lot.

• To Josh/Luke: What did you want to make better from Season 1 to Season 2?
  • Refining the two point split system. Was hard to grasp if you couldn’t follow things all the way through.
  • Streamlining the viewer experience so they can digest things easier.
  • Prize pool increase. Was predicated on making sure that the players who put in hours of work for the game was rewarded from top to bottom. Wanted to take care of people dedicating their time.

• To all: What is the future of Rocket League eSports going to look like?
  • Josh/Luke – There is a huge demand from the community. Would like to see it go as far as possible. Rocket League is an easy eSport to watch so possibly getting it on TV would be nice. Making it as big as possible is a goal. The majority of players play competitive in-game so it’s something to focus on.
  • Justin – It’s not just building a league/ecosystem;  in order to have a healthy ecosystem you need:
    • Consistent competition to all levels of player.
    • Sustainable living for players.
    • Outside brands/orgs have interest in investing.
    • Can reach all regions.
  • Kronovi – Can’t wait till it grows bigger than anything else. It’s already grown huge with Season 1 so the sky’s the limit.