85% of Rocket League players do NOT count electronic music as a favourite music genre – own goal or opportunity?

Anybody who has played Psyonix’s Rocket League knows that the game is almost synonymous with electronic music. Undoubtedly, Rocket League’s clubby tunes helped it to carve out a unique identity in the early days.

Electronic dance tracks still dominate Rocket League’s soundtrack today, despite some recent song packs including tracks from other genres, including blink-182, Eminem, and Ice Spice.

Electronic is a niche music genre, even for Rocket League players

Despite electronic music dominating the game, our research shows that just 15% of Rocket League players cite electronic / dance as a favourite genre (in other words, 85% do not):

However, Rocket League fans are still twice as likely to call EDM a favourite genre than the consumer average  (15% versus 7%). For some players, this is due to exposure – as shown in some of our qualitative interviews:

“Rocket League is what first got me interested in electronic music. I played the game so much back at launch, and the music in the game ended up in my head all the time … On Spotify, Mike Ault [composer of some original Rocket League songs] is still a regular listen for me, but lots of his music was taken off the game… now electronic is my favourite genre.’’ – (Rocket League fan, male, 32, US-based)

To avoid alienating some players and control the experience, Rocket League could add more curation and choice

However, in terms of Rocket League fans' music preferences, electronic / dance is mid-table, beaten out by mainstream genres like hip-hop, rock and hip-hop but also more niche genres like jazz and Latin.

Rocket League might actively be pushing users away from its in-game music by leaning on electronic too much, leading to some players opting out:

“I think electronic music is really nice and I go to festivals and parties for it all the time, but I am sometimes not wanting to listen to that all the time when I play Rocket League… sometimes I want pop and hip-hop so I am doing that while I am playing.”– (Rocket League fan, male, 38, Netherlands-based)

“I am just not into electronic music. It grates on me. I am more into indie and alt music, and a sprinkle of rock and rap, so I just listen to my own tunes on the Spotify app on my PS5 and mute the in-game music.’’– (Rocket League fan, male, 26, UK-based)

To diversify, Psyonix could collaborate with artists from other genres with electronic influences – like Enter Shikari or Turnstile –  for its tracklist or goal explosions (in-game purchases).

Not only would this be great for Rocket League’s engagement, it would add to the experience for fans and keep the experience more in Psyonix’s control.

Continuing to leverage parent company Epic’s Fortnite music synergies and cross-promotional events could also broaden appeal while keeping the “anti-mainstream” ethos that Rocket League is all about.

Want to learn more about how music and gaming collide?

Reach out to us about our upcoming report, ‘Pixels to Playlists: Zooming in on the music preferences and behaviours of gamers’, which has data and insights into:

• Weekly average hours spent per entertainment segment, by gamer type
• Monthly music behaviour, by gamers and consumer average
• Penetration of monthly game soundtrack listening by consumer segment
• Non-subscribers’ likelihood of paying for a music subscription in the next three years
• Music services used weekly, by gamers and consumer average
• Main places consumers discover music (ranked in top three), by consumer average and gamers
• What consumers do after listening to a song
• Favourite music genres, by gamer type and game player type

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