No more upsetting unboxing as Rocket League loses loot crates

Psyonix’s blog has announced that they’re taking paid for randomised loot boxes out of their soccar game (that looks like a typo, but it’s an excellent pun), Rocket League. Soon, you’ll know exactly what you’re buying when you pony up for an unlock.

You can see new owner Epic’s fingerprints all over this, and indeed Psyonix says the new system is inspired by changes made to Fortnite Save the World. Earlier this year, Epic started letting players scope out what was inside their, er, loot llamas before purchasing. If the llama’s loot was lacking, the player could wait a day and loot would renew. As an amateur vet, I can confirm that this sort of thing happens in the real world: when you hit a llama until it explodes, you know exactly what’s going to spill out. Good work, Epic!

There are no llamas in Rocket League, but there are randomised loot crates that will soon be replaced with “a system that shows the exact items you’re buying in advance”. It’s a bold move, allowing people to see what they’re buying rather than blindfolding them and handing them a bat. Psyonix already had something similar in place with DLC, the premium pass, and the esports shop, so they probably know the worth of showing people what they’re buying. You don't make a change like this to lose money.

There's always been some wariness about randomised unlocks, and Psyonix has already made changes to accommodate regulations about gambling in Belgium and the Netherlands. A change like this makes sense if they want the game to retain the same features across the globe. Interestingly, I've played 96 hours of Rocket League, but I can't remember buying a single key for it. Despite this, I have glowing wheels on an Irn Bru inspired car, and when I score a dinosaur screams. This is probably not going to change the game all that much for me.