Psyonix facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Psyonix LLC

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Video games
Founded	2000; 25 years ago (2000) in Satellite Beach, Florida, US
Founder	Dave Hagewood
Headquarters	San Diego , US
Key people	Dave Hagewood (studio director)
Number of employees	132 (2019)
Parent	Epic Games (2019–present)

Psyonix LLC is a company in San Diego, USA, that makes video games. It was started in 2000 by Dave Hagewood and his team from a company called WebSite Machines. After trying out a couple of ideas that didn't work, Psyonix made something cool called VehicleMOD. This was a special add-on for the game Unreal Tournament 2003 that let players use vehicles. The company that made Unreal Tournament, Epic Games, liked it so much they hired Psyonix to add this vehicle idea to their next game, Unreal Tournament 2004.

For a while, Psyonix mostly worked on games for other companies. They released their first own game, Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars, in 2008. This game didn't become a huge hit. But Dave Hagewood still believed in the idea. He had a small team start working on a new version while the rest of the company continued making games for others. This new game was Rocket League, which came out in 2015. It became a massive success! In May 2019, Epic Games bought Psyonix.

The Story of Psyonix

How Psyonix Started (2000–2003)

Psyonix was founded by Dave Hagewood. He loved computers and started programming when he was only eight years old. He even changed parts of a game back then! In 1995, Dave left college to start his own internet companies. He worked on things like web hosting and internet software.

Even though he had his own companies, Dave often spent his free time making changes, or "mods," for video games. He especially liked adding vehicles to games. He thought making games for a living was "an impossible dream." But in 2000, his team wanted to try making video games. So, Dave started Psyonix with them. The name "Psyonix" came from his interest in how the human mind works.

Psyonix first tried to make a game called Proteus, which was about vehicles fighting. But they weren't happy with the tools they were using. So, they quickly switched to a different game engine called Unreal Engine. Their next idea was Vampire Hunter: The Dark Prophecy. This was an action game where you explored in first-person and fought up close in third-person. They announced it in 2002. But the game became too big and expensive for what they could afford.

After making a small test version, they tried something new. They added vehicles to the game Unreal Tournament 2003. Dave felt this game needed vehicles. After a few weeks, the team realized this vehicle idea was really fun! So, they stopped working on Vampire Hunter and focused on the vehicle game.

In December 2002, Mark Rein from Epic Games (the company that made Unreal Tournament) called Dave. He wanted to know about Vampire Hunter. Dave told him about their new project, VehicleMOD. Mark Rein asked to see it at a big game conference in March 2003. Psyonix worked hard to get all the vehicles working and add multiplayer support for the demo.

Epic Games was very impressed! They wanted to work with Psyonix. Psyonix worked extra hard for three weeks and got other modders to help create new levels for VehicleMOD. Dave showed the updated version to Epic Games. Right away, Epic Games hired Psyonix to turn this mod into a game mode for Unreal Tournament 2004. This mode became known as Onslaught. Dave moved Psyonix to Raleigh, North Carolina, to be closer to Epic Games. Mark Rein even paid for their move!

Making Their Own Games (2003–2013)

In Raleigh, Psyonix was mostly Dave and students from nearby universities. To keep the company going, they took on "contract work." This meant they helped Epic Games develop other games using Unreal Engine. Some of these games included Gears of War and Unreal Tournament III.

Dave really wanted Psyonix to create their own original games. In 2006, the team came up with Track Addict. This was a vehicle platform game where you raced against the clock. It was a bit like the Tony Hawk's skateboarding games. They showed the game to different publishers. Microsoft agreed to release it on their Xbox console.

During the game's development, someone put a soccer ball into a level. The team had so much fun with it that they decided to change the whole game! They wanted to make a game centered around cars playing soccer. Dave told Microsoft about the change, and they decided not to work together anymore. The game was finally released in 2008 for the PlayStation 3. They gave it a very long name: Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars. They hoped the long name would get people's attention! Around the same time, Psyonix also helped make Monster Madness: Grave Danger for the PlayStation 3.

Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars didn't make a lot of money. So, Psyonix went back to doing contract work. But Dave still believed in the game's idea. He thought the fans they did have meant they should make a sequel. Out of 50 employees, he kept a few working on the new game. The rest continued with contract projects. In December 2009, the whole company moved to bigger offices in San Diego.

Later, they helped with games like Bulletstorm, Homefront, Mass Effect 3, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown. In November 2012, Psyonix released their own mobile shooter game called ARC Squadron for iOS devices. An improved version, ARC Squadron: Redux, came out in October 2013 for iOS and Android.

The Success of Rocket League (2013–Present)

In 2013, the sequel to Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars began production. Psyonix spent two years and less than $2 million making Rocket League. Dave Hagewood felt that the first game was "too hardcore," meaning it was too difficult for many players. So, they made Rocket League easier to get into.

Rocket League was released in July 2015 for Windows computers and the PlayStation 4. It was an instant hit! Psyonix's profits grew 100 times, and they made $110 million in just one year. Psyonix quickly grew to 70 people by December 2016. They moved to a much larger office in San Diego. The bigger team kept adding new content to Rocket League. Psyonix also teamed up with Twitch, a popular video game streaming service, to create the Rocket League Championship Series. This became the official esports tournament for the game. In April 2018, the studio started working on a mobile version of Rocket League called Rocket League Sideswipe.

On May 1, 2019, Epic Games announced they had bought Psyonix. At that time, Psyonix had 132 employees. They planned to keep supporting Rocket League. With the money from the sale, Dave Hagewood bought a large superyacht and planned to invest in space tourism. Epic Games released Rocket League Sideswipe for Android and iOS in November 2021. Psyonix also created the Rocket Racing game mode for Fortnite, which came out in December 2023.

Games Made by Psyonix

Games Psyonix Helped Make