Rocket League is putting an end to the player-to-player trade of items in less than two months, and fans have already started expressing their anger over the situation with posts and petitions on social media.
The news was announced yesterday (October 10) in a announcement post on the Rocket League website. There it was confirmed that the feature will be removed on December 5 (although transactions made before this point will not be reversed).
“We are making this change to align with Epic’s general approach to game cosmetics and item shopping policies, whereby items are not tradeable, transferable, or resellable,” the post explains. “This opens up future plans for some Rocket League vehicles that will come to other Epic games over time, supporting cross-game ownership.
So far, players have been able to trade many things, including bonus gifts and free post-game drops, as long as they meet certain conditions. Those who want to trade must be level 30 or higher in the game, and players who started playing after that Rocket LeagueThe free-to-play update requires you to have purchased at least 500 credits or the equivalent of in-game currency with real money to use the feature. For reference, 500 Credits cost $4.99 / £3.99.
On Twitter: one Rocket League player, @ItsSlumpii, posted a tweet addressed to Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, urging him and “everyone at Epic to reconsider the decision to end trading.” She wrote: “Trading is a core feature that everyone uses and no one asked for it to be taken away. This is very evident from the community’s response to the announcement. For many people, this was the final straw due to the lack of meaningful updates to the game in recent years.”
Meanwhile, a number of petitions have been started on Change.org in an attempt to make an impact. The largest of these, started by a user known as Nick Wallgren, has collected more than 4,500 signatures as of yesterday. Wallgren stated in the petition’s description that halting trade is an “absolute disgrace,” and that “the Rocket League team must immediately reconsider this decision.”
Neither Psyonix nor Epic Games have publicly responded to the backlash.
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