iBUYPOWER signs top Rocket League team to professional deal

The best team in Rocket League just signed the biggest sponsorship deal in the game’s history.

Cosmic Aftershock is the top ranked video-game-rocket-powered-car-soccer team in North America and now they’ll represent iBUYPOWER as salaried professional gamers. Since winning the ESL Kickoff Cup a few weeks after the game’s July 7 release, the team—consisting of Cameron “Kronovi” Bills, Randy “Gibbs” Gibbons, and Kais “SadJunior” Zehri—has owned the North American scene, winning eight straight ESL cups.

“iBUYPOWER has shown that they want to help grow Rocket League as well as the team and that is really important to us,” Gibbons said. “We cannot wait to get started on this new chapter for the team!”

Since the game’s July release, Rocket League, a three-on-three action game where players drive cars in a game of wacky, physics-based soccer, exploded on streaming platform Twitch thanks to its wide appeal. The game is extremely simple to understand, but difficult to master, the hallmark of any great sport—or esports.

“We have high hopes of seeing a robust esports scene driven by developers at Psyonix and the community surrounding it,” Darren Su, the vice president of iBUYPOWER, said. The premium custom computer retailer has been hands on with esports in recent years. The team is partnered with top League of Legends squads like Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming and maintains a presence in Counter-Strike with Brazilian side Keyd Stars.

Rocket League may seem like an odd addition, but the game’s got momentum as a hot new title with wide appeal. Plus, the Cosmic team is really good. Take a look at this Major League Gaming Top 5 Plays video, featuring five plays from iBUYPOWER’s Kronovi:

The team will have travel expenses to tournament covered in addition to a salary.

“We hope to add to the thriving esports ecosystem, where competitive esports players can make a living doing what they love while bringing this exciting sport to fans across the country,” Gibbons said.

If you can get paid to play Rocket League, than anything is possible in esports.