Rocket League Season 20 update overhauls competitive playlist access

Rocket League has overhauled its access to competitive playlists in a bid to ensure matches feature players of similar skill level.

As part of the Season 20 update for the car football title, players will have to take part in a range of challenges to determine their respective rank.

Rocket League stated that the new measures are to prevent players from creating new accounts and using them to compete against lesser-skilled opposition. As a result of smurfing, it leads to imbalanced matches, causing frustration within the community.

The previous method to access the title’s competitive playlists involved players reaching level 20 by playing across various casual playlists that don’t take skill level into account.

The introduction of New Driver Challenges will measure the skill of players to place them in ‘an appropriate starting rank’ when access to competitive playlists is unlocked. The new system also aims to place players into competitive matches quickly.

The game also revealed that “there’s still more work to do to combat smurfing,” suggesting further measures will be implemented in future updates.

Seasonal updates often feature adjustments that impact Rocket League’s competitive ecosystem. In July, the title’s v2.54 update introduced admin controls to private matches, giving hosts the ability to pause matches during live competition.

Rocket League’s esports circuit has managed to maintain steady growth throughout the past nine months.

According to Esports Charts, the Birmingham and Raleigh Majors both recorded over 200,000 peak viewers, while the Esports World Cup continued displaying stability with a peak of 230,209 viewers.

The 2025 esports season recently concluded at the Rocket League World Championship, which saw NRG walk out victorious in Lyon, France.