Silly idea makes for a great game

They used to say Roy Keane had a great engine. Well, he’s got nothing on the Rocket League footballers. They’re all cars.

It’s rare that gaming has unexpected hits. Most successful games are spotted on the horizon, long before release, their early buzz generated from previews and playtesting.

But Rocket League, the soccer game that substitutes cars for people, has come out of nowhere to be a bestseller. It’s been bought more than 5 million times already. Like Liverpool winning the league, this outcome seemed extremely unlikely.