Rocket League Will Soon Be Without Loot Boxes
Not a fan of the loot boxes in Rocket League? You’ll be glad to hear they’re on the way out. When will Psyonix be removing them from the game?
The storefront is being changed to accommodate a new rule that says all purchasable items must be clearly viewable — no more concealment by crates that force you to gamble with your dollar. “Here at Psyonix, and Epic Games as a whole, we are dedicated to creating the best possible experience for our players all over the world,” Psyonix says. “In pursuit of that goal, later this year we will remove all paid, randomized Crates from Rocket League, replacing them with a system that shows the exact items you’re buying in advance.”
Rocket League follows another popular multiplayer pasttime, Fortnite, in the removal of loot boxes (Save The World once had them). One possibility is that Psyonix is following the orders of its master, since Epic Games owns the studio now. But another possibility is that they’re feeling the heat. Loot box mechanics have come under fire by governments around the world for being a perceived form of monetized gambling — EA’s roundly mocked response to this charge hasn’t helped matters.
Over the last decade, big game publishers have been pushing the limit as to what gamers and consumers in general will tolerate regarding monetization…the point of “too far” was reached years ago, but now bad PR is forcing them to walk some of the more aggressive tactics back. It’s just two games that are both owned by the same company, but hopefully it’s the beginning of a larger trend.
