RLCS drops major casters ahead of the 2024 season, community reacts
The ice between Epic Games, BLAST, and the Rocket League community is wearing extremely thin, as tensions are at an all-time high following a string of surprising decisions.
Rocket League esports fans and players have expressed grievances against the developers and BLAST (the new third-party TO in charge of the RLCS), with the most recent 2024 season announcement being extremely negatively perceived, even forcing professional players into retirement.
Now, just two weeks before the RLCS 2024 season starts (after the longest offseason in Rocket League esports history), an abundance of iconic casters have found four that they will not be securing contracts for the upcoming 2024 season, and fans are fuming. Again.
RLCS drops casters just two weeks before the 2024 season starts
Click to enlargeAhead of the new season, Joey "Jorby" Ahrens, Michael "Achieves" Williams, Isaac "Turtle" App, Travis "Subie_Smash" Hale, Sean "Spaceman" Rogers, and Jack "Corelli" Collier have all taken to social media to reveal that Epic/BLAST has decided not to continue using their services in RLCS 2024.
Long-serving RLCS fans will remember Jorby, Achieves, Subie_Smash, and Corelli from as far back as the Season 6 World Championships, and Spaceman (who previously excelled in Call of Duty) from RLCS X onwards.
Turtle is also a stalwart of the scene, having competed at the highest level of Rocket League esports, being the second-best team in NA in Seasons 1, 2, and 3, and reaching 5th at Worlds in both S1 and S2, before appearing as a caster since Season 7.
It's not yet known whether the cutbacks extend beyond these six talented Rocket League legends.
Rocket League responds to catastrophic caster cutbacks
Following their personal statements, both Corelli and Achieves have announced that they will be stepping into coaching, while Jorby has also revealed he will pivot to content creation and streams, including RLCS watch parties.
"It's so disrespectful to leave your talent in the dark for 5 months just to rip their career from them 2 weeks before the events start back up again," said content creator and ex-pro Treyven "Lethamyr" Robitaille.
"The casters are all a staple of RLCS, they are part of the culture. I can't believe it," he added.
Rocket League coach John "Virge" Willis said, "RLCS would not be the show it is today without the dedication from the people who made this esport their entire lives," in a post on Twitter.
He added, "Many did it before it paid, or before the viewership. They believed in the game and were passionate about its potential. How can this be how they are repaid?"
Fellow RLCS host Joel "Orb" Kumlin also commented on the situation, adding, "My heart goes out to those kicked from my RLCS family."
"This news sucks. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to see first-hand the level of professionalism, passion and hard work they put into every show. They lived and breathed Rocket League Esports. This isn't right."
Support for all of the casters has poured in from players, coaches, talent, orgs, and fans, as all eyes are left scanning social media in the hope that no more layoffs happen.
