Mario Bautista
Epic Games’ 2015 title Rocket League is nearing its 10th anniversary. The game, which fuses racecar driving with soccer, broke the esports mold with its unique deviation from FPS and MOBA genres. This year, Rocket League will return to the 2025 Esports World Cup and continue its competitive tradition. Let’s explore the event’s key info, including its prize pool, format, full schedule and how to watch.
The Esports World Cup (EWC) is an annual esports convention and competition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The competition self-describes as “a premier annual sporting event and global celebration of competitive excellence and esports fandom.” It combines multiple partnered esports titles in one location, awarding prizes for tournament-winning teams and MVP players. In addition, the Esports World Cup hosts a point-based competition for its Partnered Club Teams that crowns the year’s overall strongest esports organization. The nonprofit Esports World Cup Foundation funds the event, including an Esports World Cup Festival (EWCF) portion. This convention segment includes fan interaction opportunities and smaller tournaments for rising esports titles.
The event is set to have the largest prize pool in esports history, with a total sum of 70 million USD. This sum will break the Esports World Cup’s previous record of 60 million USD in 2024.
Related Article: The 2025 Esports World Cup: Full Schedule, Prize Pool, All Games
Rocket League was one of the Esports World Cup’s original partnered games during its 2024 debut. G2 Stride, Gen.G and Team Falcons were all high performers, but the French organization Team BDS ultimately took the trophy after a 4-2 reverse sweep in the Grand Final.
Rocket League will return to the Esports World Cup in 2025 with another tournament. The event will include 16 teams from around the world and be seeded based on Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) standings.
Regarding the title’s esports importance, the Esports World Cup states on its website:
“Regardless of car preference, pro players are at another level in terms of their technique and skills, and with a million dollars on the line, the stakes are going to be high at the Esports World Cup. The Rocket League esports community has been growing over the last few years, and fans from all over the world will be yelling GOOOOOOOOOOAL in one of the most iconic Grand Finals of the event.“
The Esports World Cup Rocket League Championship is a separate event from the 2025 Rocket League World Championship, which will occur in Lyon, France in September. However, it is still an S-tier tournament that will impact teams’ reputes in the Rocket League competitive community.
According to Esports World Cup press releases and website information, the event’s 2025 Rocket League tournament will have a 1 million USD prize pool. This sum will be distributed among the winning teams, with a 10,000 USD MVP bonus set aside for the strongest player.
Qualification
Before entering the EWC battlefield, Rocket League teams must qualify for the event. Since Team BDS is the 2024 Champion, the org will automatically return this year. All other teams will qualify from regional Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) standings. Team numbers per region will vary:
Group Stage
After qualification, the 16 total teams progress to the Group Stage. This phase operates in a double-elimination format with four groups of four teams each. At the end of the Group Stage, the top two teams from each group (8 total) progress to the Playoffs.
Playoffs
The playoffs operate with a single-elimination bracket. It progresses through several subsections: the Semifinal and Bronze Match come first, and the Grand Final will crown the 2025 EWC Rocket League Champions.
Overall, the 2025 Esports World Cup Rocket League tournament will span from Thursday, August 14 to Sunday, August 17 2025. Its individual stages will occur on separate days. Here’s a full schedule:
The Esports World Cup will likely stream its main event lineup live on Twitch. The organization’s official Twitch account is located at twitch.tv/ewc. In addition, the EWC has a YouTube channel with the username @ewc. This account also hosts live broadcasts, releases post-match VODS and posts updates.
Related Article: 2025 Esports World Cup League of Legends Schedule, Format, Prize Pool
Source: 2025 Esports World Cup Rocket League Schedule, Format, Prize Pool
