Fresh on the heels of the Rocket League Championship Series Season 5 World Championship – which featured a last-second goal in a championship match that will likely go down as one of the most exciting finals games in RLCS history – the game’s developer, Psyonix, has released more details surrounding their new “Rocket Pass” progression system.
Originally announced in the summer 2018 roadmap, Rocket Pass will be a new, time-limited progression system – separate from the current XP-based leveling system – that will allow players to earn new and unique content with each pass.
Two versions of Rocket Pass will be offered: free and premium. The free version will immediately unlock all available content that can be earned, such as customization items, player banners, in-game titles, and decryptors.
The premium version (which will cost USD $9.99) will give players ten keys that can be used to unlock premium rewards in addition to the free items, such as car bodies, additional keys, premium banners and titles, as well as XP boosts that will help advance players through the tier-leveling system faster.
At first glance, thanks in part to the mention of the XP element, the Rocket Pass system seems like a cringeworthy a pay-to-win system. However, Psyonix appears to understand that transparency with its audience is the key to its success. Rather than the rewards being earned through means such as luck-of-the-draw loot boxes, players have an immediate look into what they can earn as they increase in tiers prior to committing to the premier version of Rocket Pass.
XP is also earned at the same rate, even as players move up in tier levels.
Additionally, Psyonix wants to steer clear of the typical rewards “grind”, as they state:
“We are being careful about introducing ‘challenges’ as we don't want to disrupt the competitive balance of Rocket League by encouraging users to hunt down specific stats like Saves or Assists. That said, we are considering safe ways to give players specific goals for future Passes, like playing matches in specific game modes, or achieving shared team objectives.”
Ultimately, Rocket Pass seems like it will be a fun way of experiencing Rocket League while collecting new cosmetic rewards.
More information - including updates coming to the regular leveling system - will be detailed as the release date of Rocket Pass gets closer. The official go-live date has yet to be revealed, but is expected to happen later this summer.