Don't panic: If you are playing "Rocket League" on Steam, you can continue to play it on Steam after the free-to-play begins this summer. However, new PC players will need to purchase a new PC version from the Epic Games Store.

According to Psyonix, the Steam version will "fully support future updates and features" and will still be able to do everything it always has, including purchasing items and Rocket Pass. It will also allow players to party with and play against players who currently own the Epic Store version of Rocket League so that they can play the console version.Psyonix will also be able to link Epic accounts for cross-platform Psyonix has also added cross-platform inventory and progression support by linking Epic accounts, which will be available with this update.

Those who already play "Rocket League" online or played before the free-to-play update will get plenty of in-game items for the $20 they spent; in Psyonix's words, the loot is as follows:

Those who played "Rocket League" online before today's announcement will also get a "Faded Cosmos" boost. Other items (excluding the 200+ commons) can be found in the gallery.

The news is not that surprising; "Team Fortress 2" went free four years after its release, and "Rocket League" turns five years old this month. Going free has come to be expected for successful multiplayer games (as well as those that fail, but are usually changed quickly as a desperate move). [But this is the biggest change made to Rocket League since Psyonix was acquired by Epic. Another major change was Epic and Psyonix's elimination of loot boxes and addition of an item store last year, a very normal modernization in a world that had become increasingly hostile to random rewards; Psyonix also dropped Linux and Mac support earlier this year when it discontinued.

I've played over 1,000 hours of "Rocket League" on Steam, and when the free-to-play update comes, it won't make much difference to me. I will continue to play on Steam and at least I won't see any newcomers to the Epic Store in my ranks. Until they learn to air dribble better than me and in a quarter of the time. Rocket League, unlike some shooters, is not plagued by cheaters, but it is possible that we will see more smurf accounts once they can create accounts for free.

(Anecdotal evidence suggests that they can be bad at the game for a night or two, lose rank, get on a roll and return to their previous level to beat up on the unlucky players. The St. Louis Blues lost half of their NHL season, but then won the Stanley Cup. Sometimes people are just inconsistent.)

Psyonix hasn't said exactly when the free-to-play update will happen, except that it will be sometime this summer; if you want to own "Rocket League" on Steam, time is officially up, but if you haven't bought it yet, spend $20 I don't think I'd care as much. (Unless you're allergic to the Epic store, try it when it's free.)

One question I have is how Valve feels about this. While they still benefit from the transactions on the Steam version, which is played by thousands of owners every day, they must have some feelings about the store page becoming inorganic to potential new players on Steam. I asked them if they had any comments on this topic.