how many maps will there be at launch?

[–]We are still finalizing it as we test different times of day/ weather effects. But it will be somewhere between 5 and 7. And all other arenas that we have post-release will ALWAYS be free. You will never pay for a new Arena/ Stadium in Rocket League. Ever.
...Other DLC, on the other hand, we will most likely charge for.
 
Can you tell us what kind of DLC will be paid? I guess customization and maybe cars right? I'm totally ok with that.

[–]We can't yet because we're still figuring it out. We were thinking of working on DLC the second (literally) that we get Rocket League submitted and out the door to get it as close to launch as possible. What that will be -- whether it would be a Free Arena or a paid something else, we're still figuring out.
Off the top of our heads, though. The most immediate, most likely things would be stuff like new cars or decals or paint types or other customization items that would add to the personalization aspect of the game.
 
Are you thinking of doing a season pass? I mean, I want all the DLC in one go already, just to support even more this awesome game.

[–]In regards to a season pass, anything is on the table right now. We haven't ruled anything out.
The only DLC thing we know for sure is that Arenas will always be free and will be included as patches and not store downloads.
(and thanks!)

Our official release is still "Summer." We are looking to finalize a more specific date than that soon as we are almost done with our "content complete" phase and will be submitting to Sony for certification once that happens. There are also a few behind-the-scenes things we have to work out before we can 100% announce the date, but we know for sure that it won't slip past the summer window.

Were there any design decisions you guys struggled/argued over in development? Anything that was dropped in development, or added after intense debate?

The hardest thing to decide was what we had to not work on or delay in order to make our release date. Our desired feature list is endless and we want to have everything in the game that most of you want us to have, so having those meetings where we have to say -- "No, or hold on until a future patch or DLC" were excruciatingly painful. But it had to be done, or the game would never come out because we'd be working on it forever.
That said, we have very ambitious post-release plans.
 
Any plans for official, competitive tournaments for the top players?
 
[–]We want to support tournaments as a long-term goal for Rocket League, but it won't be ready to go on Day 1. If we want to get the game out on time successfully, we had to push that feature into a later release. We want to put it in the game eventually, but we had to focus on completing the core game first.

Will you be giving the players who participated in the alpha and beta on PC any extras?
[–]Yes we will! (Special customization items)

so, the beta was awesome, obvious question, when will the next beta take place?

Should be just a couple of weeks
 
do you guys allready know the release date but cannot annouice it atm?

We don't know for absolute certain so we can only say Summer for now
 
can you say something about other arenas? will there be smaller ones, bigger ones, other shapes or with "things" in it? what about balls? is the ball, maybe besides look, always the same or will there be different ones (bigger, smaller, heavier,...)

We are going to have a lot of stadiums that are the standard size for competitive play, but there willa lso be special layouts. On release we will have more of the standard variety but we will continue to release new maps for free post-release.
will the announcer have more things to say in the final build (saves, demolitions,...)
There is definitely more coming in terms of audio. I'm not sure about the announcer specifically, but we could always add that as we go forward if it is popular request.
 
beta was my first time playing the game and I had alot trouble with ariel manouvers. can you explain a bit on how you account for that with tutorials/trainings in the main game for new players to learn these things?

Practice makes perfect. So we made a training mode that allows you to practice over and over and it is fun thing to play in itself as a challenge mode.

We'll be adding 4v4 matchmaking for Beta 2 since we are expecting to invite more players this time around.
Beta 2 will be coming in the next couple of weeks. We are literally putting the final touches on it now, wrapping up a few things here and there and making sure it's as solid as our previous Beta!
Another thing about Beta #2 is that we are expanding the territories in which it will be available in EU. So if your region was left out of the first beta, that will likely be different this time around.
Also, if you're already in beta 1, you're automatically in beta 2. No need to sign up again or anything