Every gamer’s favorite surprise game mechanic is getting yet another punch in the guts in form of removal of one of the most popular online games this console generation. Developer Psyonix has announced that they will remove randomized loot crates from their smash-hit vehicular soccer game Rocket League in an update later this year.
Announced officially on Rocket League’s news blog, the addictive digital sports game will soon be devoid of the monetization tactic many gamers are seeing as predatory and borderline gambling. Well, this borderline definition of it being gambling actually turned into randomized loot boxes & crates being classified as official gambling in a number of countries around the globe. Since states are pretty strict when it comes to illegal gambling, several games have already not been able to come out in certain countries, or at least be changed to meet domestic laws.
To adhere to these laws, Psyonix previously disabled the use of crate keys in Belgium and the Netherlands earlier this year. It looks like the pressure put on the loot box mechanics is showing its effect, now that that feature will be removed for all players. Of course, the reason could be entirely different. Epic purchased Psynoix this May and the company policy of Epic could very well be the real reason why loot crates are being axed.
Whatever the reason, players of Rocket League will still be able to spend their hard-earned cash in-game for cosmetics and cars. It’s just that they will now know exactly what they will get for their money, without any randomization shenanigans.
It’s great news for every gamer really, and we hope that gaming giant Electronic Arts will rather sooner than later follow Epic in disregarding randomized loot boxes in their games, but if we remember the most recent statements by EA about what they see as “quite fun and ethical surprise mechanics”, the wait could be a while.
