Rocket League community is furious with Psyonix over new Item Shop
The new Blueprint update arrived today in Rocket League to near-universal criticism from fans. Not only did the update not satisfy the community, but developers Psyonix implemented their replacement for crates. A while back, it was announced that traditional loot crates would no longer be sold in Rocket League. Today, crates were completely removed from the game with the Blueprint update. However, what replaced it is so much worse.
The new Item Shop in Rocket League
While Rocket League has had somewhat of an Item Shop in the past, this new version is one of the only ways to earn cosmetic items. Psyonix decided to follow in the footsteps of Fortnite, with an Item Shop updated regularly featuring all kinds of items.
Though this sounds harmless enough, the prices are infuriating the Rocket League community. Many items seem drastically overpriced; a paint job like Wet Paint costs 2,000 credits (20 keys). While some fans will still buy the items, a majority of the community is boycotting the store until Psyonix lowers their prices.
This system was supposed to be more consumer-friendly than the loot crate system. Purchasing crates was essentially gambling your money and that’s starting to get outlawed in many countries. However, what the community got as a replacement is far more predatory and seemingly not fair to the average consumer.
Back when crates were still in existence, you paid 100 credits for one key to open one crate. Of course, you had to buy at least 500 credits but you would end up receiving 5 items. Now, you pay nearly quadruple that for a simple paint job.
Of course, there are some low-priced items for 100 credits in the Item Shop. Though, the higher-priced items are what most players desire. So, essentially, Psyonix is making players pay a substantial fee for the items they really want.
In the Blueprint update, there were new blueprints introduced, which are basically pre-designed cars. From the wheels to the paint to the design, blueprints are available for all cars. While the lower-rarity blueprints aren’t too extravagant, some of the higher-rarity blueprints cost an inordinate amount of credits.
Will Psyonix lower their prices?
It’s unknown whether or not the Rocket League developers will listen to the community. Presumably, they will gather data and see if this new, high-price model is making them enough money. If it is, then the Item Shop’s prices will most likely stay in place.
However, if the data shows a steep drop-off in revenue, Psyonix could very well lower the prices. We’ve seen developers do this in the past; Respawn with Apex Legends is a recent example.
Hopefully, regardless of what the data shows, Psyonix will revert this decision and use more consumer-friendly prices. If not, a large portion of the player base could end up leaving Rocket League altogether.
Make sure to keep up with Online Esports for all of your gaming coverage.
