Psyonix’s reveal of the 2021-22 season of the RLCS couldn’t have been more jam-packed with juicy information. As well as the usual – dates, prize pools, and so on – we also got news of some huge expansion into four new regions, plus the confirmation that the RLCS is returning to LAN.
The RLCS 2021-22 season will span from October 2021 all the way through to the end of June 2022, and along the way teams from a total of eight regions will compete for a share of an enormous total prize pool of $6 million. Of the eight regions, four of them are brand new to Rocket League esports, meaning we will have a truly global competition this time around.
The season will include four live events which will take place in various destinations around the globe. There will be three Majors – one at the end of each of the three splits – and a $2 million RLCS World Championship at the end of the season.
That’s a brief rundown of what to expect, but there’s plenty of other details about RLCS 2021-22 that Rocket League esports fans are keen to hear more about.
With that, here’s everything you need to know about the RLCS 2021-22 season.
RLCS 2021-22 regions
For the RLCS 2021-22 season, Psyonix is introducing some new regions. There will be a total of seven official RLCS regions, which will compete at Major events, and one non-RLCS region that will not play at Majors but will receive Psyonix support and have the chance to qualify for the World Championship.
The seven RLCS 2021-22 regions are:
- Europe
- North America
- South America
- Oceania
- Asia Pacific North
- Asia Pacific South
- Middle East and North Africa
The one non-RLCS region is Sub-Saharan Africa. You can read more about SSA’s special status and Psyonix’s vision for the region here.
RLCS 2021-22 format
For this season of the RLCS, the format looks to champion variety and ensure that no two splits are the same.
The season is divided into three splits – Fall, Winter, and Spring. Each Regional Event begins with an Open Qualifier to see who qualifies for Regional Events. Teams can also auto-qualify to Regional Events via their performance at the previous Regional Event, but in the first Regional Event of the year, all teams must play in the Open Qualifier.
Each Split has three Regional Events, and at these events you can try to qualify for that split’s Major. For RLCS 2021-22, Majors will return to LAN and will be international events, pitting teams from all regions against each other.
To keep things interesting, each Split features a different format for its events. The Fall Split will feature a Swiss format that feeds into an eight-team, single-elimination bracket. In the Winter Split, teams will battle through a group stage containing four groups of four teams, which will then seed them into a double-elimination bracket. The Spring Split will be a simple, but ruthless, double-elimination format.
Teams earn points at each event. Majors award more points for strong performances than Regional Events. These points are used to qualify for the Rocket League World Championship at the end of the season.
RLCS 2021-22 World Championship
The 2021-22 RLCS World Championship will take place in July 2022, and is split into two events – the Wildcard, and the Main Event. Wildcard sees top teams from eight regions battle for eight spots at the Main Event. The other eight spots at the Main Event are filled by teams that auto-qualified based on their season’s points total.
These are the regional seeds for the RLCS World Championship Wildcard event:
- North America: Three seeds
- Europe: Three seeds
- Middle East and North Africa: Two seeds
- Oceania: Two seeds
- South America: Two seeds
- Sub-Saharan Africa: Two seeds
- Asia-Pacific North: One seed
- Asia-Pacific South: One seed
The Wildcard event will be a Swiss format competition. The Main Event will have a four-group group stage, with each group being a double-elimination bracket, feeding into a single-elimination bracket knockout stage.
RLCS 2021-22 schedule
This is the full schedule for the RLCS 2021-22 season, as provided by Psyonix.
Fall Split
- NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #1: October 15 – 17
- EU, SAM, APAC N Regional #1: October 22 – 24
- NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #2: October 29 – 31
- EU, SAM, APAC N Regional #2: November 5 – 7
- NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #3: November 12 – 14
- EU, SAM, APAC N Regional #3: November 19 – 21
- Major: December 8 – 12
- Transfer Window: December 13, 2021 – January 2, 2022
Winter Split
- NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #1: January 14 – 16
- EU, SAM, APAC N Regional #1: January 21 – 23
- NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #2: January 28 – 30
- EU, SAM, APAC N Regional #2: February 4 – 6
- NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #3: February 18 – 20
- EU, SAM, APAC N Regional #3: February 25 – 27
- Major: March 24 – 27
- Transfer Window: March 28 – April 17
Spring Split
- NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #1: April 29 – May 1
- EU, SAM, APAC N Regional #1: May 6 – 8
- NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #2: May 13 – 15
- EU, SAM, APAC N Regional #2: May 20 – 22
- NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #3: May 27 – 29
- EU, SAM, APAC N Regional #3: June 3 – 5
- Major: June 30 – July 3
World Championship
- Wildcard: July 22 – 24
- Main Event: July 26 – 31
RLCS 2021-22 prize pool
The overall prize pool for the RLCS 2021-22 season is $6 million. This is up from the previous season’s prize pool of $4.5 million.
Of the total prize pool, a third will be reserved for the World Championship, so $2 million is on the line for just that event.
RLCS 2021-22 LAN events
Rocket League LAN events are back for RLCS 2021-22, and there will be four of them throughout the season.
Here are the four events, along with their locations (if officially confirmed by Psyonix):
- Fall Split Major (December 8 – 12): Stockholm, Sweden
- Winter Split Major (March 24 – 27): TBC
- Spring Split Major (June 30 – July 3): TBC
- RLCS World Championship (July 22 – 31): TBC
That’s everything we know about the Rocket League Championship Series for the 2021-22 season. If you’ve never tuned into Rocket League esports before, but you’ve loved finding your feet in the Rocket League ranks, be sure to check out some of the action to see how the very best in the world do it.
