Psyonix Says Goodbye To Paid And Randomised Crates In Rocket League

Finally, something EA can take note of

I wish they weren't in the game in the first place, but it's still great to see Psyonix respect their customers and remove these garbage loot boxes.

Cool, now remove the microtransactions altogether.

Maybe this is what gets me back into the game

@TheDragonDAFan I agree. Worst thing about Rocket League. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe they didn't realize how scummy it all was until recently. I hope that's the case.

Psyonix and Epic games are taking note - some countries have started cracking down on loot box systems and rather than get caught up in the bad press they are removing them preemptively. Good move.

This is good, I hope more countries continue this crack down. Loot boxes are distinctly anti-consumer. It's been around in some form for a long time. But I for one would love to see it all go away. Even so far as random trading card booster packs. Companies did this because people who buy packs/boxes/crates/whatever and don't get the item they want tend to buy more. Then some tried to put a little balm on that wound by giving you back some minor in-game currency that might allow you to buy the one you actually want - at a huge mark up.

Companies don't want to just let you buy the one you want because if they do - you will probably only buy that one. You'll only buy that one skin, or only the cards for that one deck, or only that specific character you want.

But in truth, we should be able to do that. We should be able to chose exactly what we spend out money on, without having to go through obnoxious randomized systems or scalped 3rd parties.

You ever try to build a deck for Magic the Gathering or Pokemon TCG? You know how expensive and frustrating it is to try and get the card you need/want from booster packs? Does anyone like opening 20 loot boxes in a game like Overwatch and not getting the character skin they actually wanted?

Meanwhile, EA is still confused on why they were voted worst company 3 times in a row.

@Heavyarms55 Maybe the corporate people who push for this kind of stuff should be treated to some form of randomized grocery shopping sometime. You wanted bread? Ooh, sorry. You got crackers this time. You can try again for bread if you want. But you still have to buy the crackers. And you might get crackers again. Or maybe sardines. Who knows? Just keep buying random groceries until you get what you want. Hey, maybe you can trade those crackers with one of your fellow shoppers for some bread!

@InJeffable I was literally just thinking about this comparison. Imagine trying to buy milk, you want 2% milk? Maybe you'll get whole milk, or skim milk, or soy milk, or chocolate milk. Didn't get the one you want? Just try again! And hey, if you try 6 times and still don't get it, you can give all the milk back and get only the one you wanted!

WOW, that's such a surprise in today's market. Excellent job Psyonix. The future is not so grim after all with companies like these.

@SpicyBurrito16 Oh they did, didn't you hear? It was replaced with a wholly new system, "Surprise Mechanics"! They're as wholesome as Kinder Eggs, without all that pesky chocolate to get in the way of a random thing you didn't know you didn't want!

@SpicyBurrito16 Excuse they are not loot boxes, they are "surprise mechanics"

@JamesJose7 @Azikira
Oh yeah, surprise mechanics. Silly me. And they are definitely wholesome as Nestle Wonder Balls but without all that chocolate getting in the way of that hard candy inside and those stickers you needed for some reason.

I have so many of them I never opened. Never bought a single key, but did get some from special events/leveling the free rocket pass tier, so I did open a couple. This seems like a good change at least on paper, but I'm interested in more details.

While this is great, they're probably not really removing the loot boxes. They're still loot boxes even if you know what you're getting with your next purchase.

If the box doesn't show what you actually want, you still gotta buy it more times.

This is how easy it is to dodge the "loot box" label.

@SpicyBurrito16 It hurt itself in it's confusion!

Slowly getting there, still has micro-transactions, but no more gambling.

Yay! Now, everybody go download Epic Games Launcher to show our appreciation for this awesome decision!

Huh. I guess I was wrong about jumping the gun on them after getting bought by Epic. I'm glad they're still being decent developers regardless.

Jim Sterling called Psyonix out about their loot boxes on this week's Jimquisition and they made this change within a day of that episode. Quite interesting and I'll give them credit for making this change as most companies would've stuck to the late stage capitalism approach of screwing the customer for profit regardless of how they're perceived (i.e. EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Bethesda and on and on and on...). I love supporting the indie's who do good by their customers and I will continue to shun the companies who screw their customers. Kudos to Psyonix.

I miss the days when “skins” were just bought in game and no money beyond the the cost of the game itself was needed to enjoy games....

I've played Rocket League for 80 hours and I've never opened a box even though I've gained both boxes and keys from playing the game. I simply don't care about the customization aspect.

This is a good move, but I bet they'll charge a stupid amount for items now.

Hey Activision, take note

I liked opening the lootboxes with the USBs you get for free, does this mean they'll remove all crates from people's accounts? Curious about the impact this'll have on the "economy" of trading in RL.

You don't get thanks for doing the bare minimum, Psyonix and Epic. Shame on you for bringing gambling mechanics to your game in the first place.

This is a great step in the right direction! Let's also remember that these microtransactions are purely cosmetic, and they don't affect the gameplay, which is more than I can say for EA's tactics.

I wonder how many people play this game just for the actual gameplay, like me. I couldn't give a monkeys about customising my car or what anybody else's car looks like, the gameplay is too fast to even notice anyway.

The loot crates were a huge turn off. Fun game though.

Microtransactions are fine in free smartphone games but not real games.

"Here at Epic Games as a whole, we frown on loot boxes, gambling, or anything that can increase our exposure to governmental litigation or investigation. To that end, we're doubling down on our commitment to providing you as many microtransactions as possible."

There, I fixed it for you.

Removing the transactions would have been the correct fix.

@TechaNinja
It was really effective.

I used to buy keys when I first bought the game, but soon realized I could build up my crates and trade them for stuff instead. I'm going to miss get a bunch of stuff for free.

Microtransactions should only be found in free to play smartphone games, not real games.

Thank GOODNESS!!!!

I just see this as a smart, and safe, move. It creates good PR, and let's them get ahead of regulation, rather than being forced to do it later.

Devs making more for their work on Epic store's lower cut of the profit lets them remove lootboxes. Shocker...

Valve makes a bunch of their money off lootboxes for their games so it makes sense they don't even try to advocate for a change in that department