Rocket League patch 1.61, is now live, and with it comes a whole host of additions like the Esports Shop, and Rocket Pass challenges. You can find a full list of the changes here, but one of note is that Rocket League crate drop rates are now viewable in-game.
That’s right, by heading to the crate preview screen, you can highlight a crate to see each tier’s drop rate. This is in response to the controversial discussion around lootboxes and whether or not they’re actually gambling. While this doesn’t answer if these boxes are gambling, it does show users what they’re getting into. Now, you can know for sure that your chances of getting a Black Market item are actually 1%. Unfortunately, in this same vein players in Belgium and the Netherlands cannot access loot crates due to local regulation.
Other notable additions include some new Replay FX, and HDR support on the Xbox One S, PS4, and PS4 Pro. This patch follows the “Friends” update that went live back in February. Finally, players across platforms can party up similar to how it’s done in Minecraft or Fortnite.
Regarding the lootbox discussion, many countries are still unsure as to how one should regulate these in-game assets. This topic really peaked during the Star Wars Battlefront 2 fiasco, where the game pushed lootboxes so hard that people outside the games industry began to take notice. Since then, U.S. representatives have looked into laws regarding this feature. Belgium banned games like Overwatch and Fifa for having them.
A lot of the discussion comes down to what you can do with the in-game items. Defenders of lootboxes claim that because you always get an item, the process is not “gambling” per se. Others disagree since you’re spending money and getting something as a result, no matter what. It’s a tough topic. But, it’s hard to argue that lootboxes introduce kids to gambling-like activities from a young age. That seems to be the biggest worry of it all.
