After last week’s announcement of the RLCS 22-23 World Championship being held in Düsseldorf, excitement is building as fans across the world prepare to order their tickets and look forward to the end of a crazy competitive year. With last year’s World’s in Fort Worth being such a huge success, let’s discuss what Psyonix can do to match the hype and put on another spectacular event in Düsseldorf.
Whilst obviously the tournament matches alone brought enough hype, there were a few additional features Pysonix brought to the RLCS 21-22 World Championships that made it even more special. However despite it being the greatest event in the esport’s history, it didn’t come without its own fair share of issues.
Source: Psyonix
Friday Night Duels/Show Matches
One unique aspect that was added to World’s last year were the “Friday Night Duels”; special 1v1 show matches that took place after the tournament matches on Friday. This was an exciting addition to the event, and some people thought that having some 1v1 action between the best Rocket League players was a nice break from seeing so much 3v3 gameplay all weekend.
However, the players only had pride on the line, and I think if Psyonix added some prize money for the winner of these show matches then it would add more pressure and excitement, ultimately increasing the hype in the arena.
Furthermore, having these matches at the end of the day after the normal World’s series may have meant the viewers and crowd were not as interested and might turn off the stream or leave the venue. I think that if these matches were split up over the course of the weekend and played in between series then viewers would be more interested in watching these games.
Another alternative would be to include some 2v2 matches as well as 1v1s. This was done during the online RLCSX Championships and had a good response from the community. In general I think Psyonix should definitely bring back show matches to keep the audience entertained in Düsseldorf.
RLCS 2023 Season Schedule
Ford Freestyle Finals
Another unique addition to last year’s World’s was the final of the Ford Freestyle event taking place on the main stage in front of the crowd. After qualifying for the final online, Nytro Faith and Nytro Tx battled it out for their share of $70,000.
This event was criticized by some fans due to the quality of the freestyles being much worse than they have seen online making it less interesting (probably due to the pressure and difference playing on stage), however I think it was still good to see freestylers perform on a live setting for the first time.
I hope Psyonix brings back something similar for this year’s World’s, even if it doesn’t have as much on the line. I think the crowd would enjoy a freestyle show match alongside 1v1/2v2 matches.
Playoffs (obviously)
I think the main problem with the format was the Playoffs all being played on Sunday. This is because having eight best of 7 series on the final day made it feel slightly rushed. I think that for an epic season finale having more time in between the games for content videos and desk segments would help build the hype for each individual series much better.
In my opinion it makes more sense to only have the semi finals and grand final on the last day like they have successfully done in most previous LAN events and in online regionals.
Whatever Psyonix has planned for the event, I’m sure it will match the hype of last year’s Worlds, especially with a loud European crowd backing it up.
The level of competition that we have been witnessing from the players this year has been by far the closest we have ever seen, so get ready as the RLCS 22-23 World Championships in Düsseldorf is only a few months away!
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