Hello everyone! The holidays are here, which means it’s time for family, egg nog (or hot cocoa) and lots of gaming. With the new year nearly upon us, we’re ending 2018 with one final gift for the community -- a 2XP long weekend!

Starting Thursday, December 27 at 2 PM PST/10 PM UTC, you’ll earn double the amount of base experience in all Casual and Competitive Playlist matches via the “+100% special event” XP bonus. Between 2XP and the progression changes we made earlier this month, you’ll be unlocking Rocket Pass Tiers faster than ever before!

Check out the official start and end times below. Enjoy the extra XP, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, everyone!

• 2XP Start Time: Thursday, December 27 at 2 PM PST / 10 PM UTC
• 2XP End Time: Monday, December 31 at 10 AM PST / 6 PM UTC

(Note: This 2XP weekend will not have double drop-rates for Crates or Painted items activated.)

 

The end of 2018 is nearly upon us, which means that it's time to reflect back on the year’s achievements and see how we can make Rocket League even better. So in this Community Spotlight, let’s look back at the moments that defined us, the new discoveries we made together and a featured look at the top Custom Training packs of 2018!

2018 was a big year for Rocket League. We reached some amazing milestones - including 52 million players worldwide, 37 million Custom Training packs downloaded, 1.7 million Clubs created, and 3 billion online matches played! From Tournaments and Ranked Extra modes to Rocket Pass 1 and 2, Salty Shores and a T-rex goal explosion, Rocket League and its community have grown quite a bit this year.

As the community grew this year, so did some of its brightest stars! Gibbs and SunlessKhan opened their arms and minds to help us with replay analysis, while redditors u/HelvetiaGaming and u/HoraryHellfire2 defined entirely new skills like the ‘Heljump’ and ‘Ceiling Shuffle.’ But the content didn’t stop there; channels like Rocket Science, FLuuMP, Jon Sandman, and PhantomAce gave us a constant source of random fun, in-depth Rocket League analysis, and even brand new mechanics! Over on the subreddit we were “blessed” time after time by the Wet Art Man himself, demo'd by u/sledge98, and balled on by u/amustycow; not to mention the other 450,000-plus subscribers who shared their highlights and ideas with us every day. And how about the new kid on the block? The Rocket League Discord server finally set its status to official and reached over 85 thousand users -- and counting! All-in-all, the Rocket League community has a lot to be proud of. We can’t wait to share 2019 with you all!



Since the start of 2018, nearly 100 Custom Training packs have made it to the ‘Featured’ tab, enjoyed by Rocket League players all around the world. Each pack has helped us (and you, we hope) confidently hit the pitch every day with new skills and mechanics. While we normally pick a new 'Featured' list each month, we thought it would be nice to celebrate the best of the best in 2018, so here we go!

Right at the top is Poquito’s ‘Wall Shots,’ which is a perfect practice pack for learning how to read the ball as it comes up the wall, how to freestyle, or even how to set yourself up for double touch backboard shots. Up next are two defense-minded packs -- `Shadow Defense` and `Super Defense` -- which are perfect for shadowing the ball for saves and tight angle blocks. If you need to ramp up the difficulty, both `Backboard Training` and `High Level Shots` are perfect for wall reads and securing fast-paced, precise redirects. There’s a training pack for every level of skill, so don’t be afraid to try one out!


Check out our previous Community Spotlight to relive some of Rocket League’s most unforgettable moments and our previous list of ‘Featured’ Custom Training packs.

What did you take away from 2018, and what are you looking forward to in 2019? Let us know on Twitter, Discord, the subreddit, or Instagram for a chance to make it into the next Community Spotlight!

The iconic ‘Octane’ takes die-cast form!

Starting later this month, the first 1:64 scale Hot Wheels Rocket League car goes on sale for $1.09 MSRP (or regional equivalent) at all retailers where Hot Wheels are sold in North and Latin America, Europe, and Asia! At launch, the Octane will be available in Blue, with an Orange version arriving in 2019. See below for some of the participating retailers across each region.

• United States: Walmart, Target, Kmart
  
• Canada: Walmart, Canadian Tire
  
• Asia: Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, Kmart
  
• Latin America and Mexico: Bodega Aurrera, Walmart, Lasa, Reval and Barao
  
• Europe: Amazon, Smyths, Argos, Tesco, Muller

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muPktAThUEY
Are you ready for Rocket League in real life? Who better to make Soccar action a reality than Travis Pastrana and his friends at Nitro Circus!

Check out the first of four “Rocket League IRL” videos from Nitro Circus up above and witness what happens when some of the best extreme athletes in the world gear up for 3v3 action -- no handballs allowed! While Nitro Circus has fun in the real world, we’re bringing them into Rocket League as well! Use the code ‘RLNITRO’ in Rocket League to unlock a FREE ‘Nitro Circus’ Flag as well as a Decal for Breakout!

Keep an eye on Nitro Circus’ YouTube, Twitter and Facebook to see when the next Rocket League video drops. Thanks, everyone!

(Note: To redeem the code in Rocket League, go to ‘Extras’ in the main menu, select ‘Redeem Code and enter the code above into the field. Codes can only be redeemed once.)



 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0kp7x9DLUo

The holiday season is upon us and it’s time for Frosty Fest!

Starting on December 17, we’re spreading holiday cheer in Rocket League! Earn ‘Snowflakes’ for playing Online Matches and redeem them for new customization items like the ‘Winter Storm’ Trail, ‘Holiday Hearth’ Wheels, ‘Peppermint Powerhouse’ Title and more! Also redeem Snowflakes for up to ten ‘Golden Gifts,’ each containing an item from the ‘Nitro,’ ‘Turbo,’ ‘Overdrive,’ or ‘Secret Santa’ Crates. Frosty Fest ends January 7, and you’ll have three days -- until January 10 -- to redeem any of your remaining Snowflakes.

Check out the trailer up top, some of the Frosty Fest items below and be sure to let us know what you think of Frosty Fest on Reddit, Discord, Twitter and Instagram. Happy Holidays, everyone!

• Start Time: December 17, 10 AM PST (1 PM EST, 6 PM UTC)
• End Time: January 7, 2 PM PST (5 PM EST, 10 PM UTC)
• Redeem Snowflakes by: January 10, 2 PM PST (5 PM EST, 10 PM UTC)

Scheduled Release: December 10, 2018, 10:00 AM PDT / 6:00 PM UTC (All Platforms)

BUG FIXES

General

• Corrected rear wheel placement on the ‘’99 Nissan Skyline GT-R R34’
  
• The force that flips cars into upright position will no longer accidentally trigger during dodges
  
• Fixed an issue causing the Camera Shake option to not be respected in all contexts
  
• Inventory window will no longer disappear when searching an item name

KNOWN ISSUES

• The "No XP awarded. Minimum score threshold not met." notification may appear despite earning enough points in a match. This is only a notification error; your account is still earning the appropriate amount of XP
  
• ‘Most Recent’ filter option may not sort your inventory correctly
  
• At the end of a Competitive Match, the end match screen may say you have been demoted to Unranked. This is only a visual notification error; you have not dropped to Unranked
  
• Tournament creators may not be able to spectate matches

https://youtu.be/gOgF5bf3Y24

The ultimate modern sports car is now available in Rocket League!

Just announced live at The 2018 Game Awards, the McLaren 570S Car Pack DLC can now be purchased on all platforms for $1.99 (or regional equivalent). We’ve given the McLaren 570S Coupé the Battle-Car treatment, complete with two Player Banners so you can show your love for McLaren everywhere in the game.

Check out the McLaren 570S in the trailer up above and let us know what you think of our newest Premium DLC on Facebook, Reddit and Twitter.

(Please Note: The McLaren 570S cannot be equipped with any additional Wheels, Toppers and Antennas other than what is offered in the DLC pack.)

Now that our December Update is available on all platforms, we’re ready to talk about Rocket Pass 2!

Starting at 10:00 AM PST (1:00 PM EST/ 6:00 PM UTC) on December 10, Rocket Pass 2 will be available for FREE in Rocket League on all platforms with no download required. Just like our first Rocket Pass, we’re also offering a Premium Upgrade in exchange for 10 Keys (USD $9.99 or regional equivalent) that will include even more content, including the brand new Artemis Battle-Car!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzYv1__CXu8

We listened to your feedback about the first Rocket Pass and (as a result) have now increased the variety of items found in the Premium track. Additionally, items in the Premium Upgrade path are no longer tradeable for Tiers 1 thru 70, but 'Pro Tier' items (i.e. Tier 71 and above) and Free items CAN still be traded. We have also changed Pro Tier behavior so that they will ALWAYS drop as a 'Painted' item, while still carrying a 25% chance to drop as a 'Certified' item. Moreover, we've increased the base experience you earn from matches by 40% so that you can reach Pro Tiers faster and increased the weekly match maximum from 14 to 21. You can read more about all progression changes, including how 'Weekly Win' bonuses are awarded, RIGHT HERE.

Finally, we’re introducing a brand new Customization Item attribute to various Pro Tier items. The 'Special Edition' attribute reworks an item into an alternate version of itself that still supports Painted attribute colors. Several of the Pro Tier Wheels in Rocket Pass 2 -- ‘Gripstride HX,’ ‘Rocket Forge II’ and ‘Sprocket’ -- support the Special Edition attribute; any time you unlock one from a Pro Tier, you'll have a 25% chance to receive the Special Edition version. You can see an awesome example of a Special Edition item in the screenshot below.



Be sure to check out the Rocket Pass 2 trailer and Artemis Battle-Car up top. You can let us know what you think of our changes to the system on Instagram, Reddit and Twitter, while also heading over to http://rocketpass.com/ to view the entire list of what’s coming next week. Thanks, everyone!

• Enhanced Xbox One X Support is now available
• ‘Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 5’ is now available
• Made several updates to the Progression system
• Skill Leaderboards have been added for each Ranked Extra Mode
• v1.55 was a PS4-only update we released on October 23

Monstercat

• ‘Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 5’ is now available to all players under Music Playlists
• Monstercat Flags have been added
  • ‘CloudNone’
  • ‘Grant’
  • ‘Hyper Potions’
  • ‘Nokae’
  • ‘Rogue’
  • ‘Rootkit’
  • ‘SMLE’

Community Flags

• ‘Extra Life’
• ‘Kinda Funny’
• ‘Speedy’

Xbox One X Enhanced with 4K and HDR

• Rocket League on Xbox One X now displays in native 4K
  • 4K support requires a 4K-capable television and compatible HDMI cable
• Supersampling is enabled if playing on Xbox One X with a 1920x1080 display
• HDR support has been added
• HDR will automatically activate if:
  • Your 4K TV supports HDR
  • HDR is enabled on your 4K TV
  • HDR is enabled on your Xbox One X via the “Display and Sound” settings menu
• HDR options include
  • HDR Paper White: Adjusts how bright a paper white surface should be when HDR is enabled
  • HDR Contrast
  • Side-by-Side Visualizer: Allows you to compare when HDR is enabled vs disabled

Progression

• Increased XP/second in Casual and Competitive Playlists by 40%
• Increased Win Bonus from 50 to 100
• Increased Weekly Win Bonus from two matches per day to three per day
  • Weekly maximum has increased from 14 matches to 21 matches
• A limited number of points are now awarded for each ball hit
  • You earn two points per touch
  • Points earned per touch limited to one touch per second
• Players who have not met the minimum point threshold needed to earn XP will now see a notification on the End Match screen

Ranked Extra Modes Leaderboards

• Skill Leaderboards have been added for each Ranked Extra Mode
• Each Extra Mode Leaderboard will include MMR data going back to the beginning of Season 9

Competitive

• Placement Match wins now count towards your Bronze Season Reward Level

Crates and Keys

• Crate contents are now revealed with a new, faster unlock sequence

General

• Start and End dates have been added to the Rocket Pass screen
• New item notifications have been removed
• Adjusted how Club colors are displayed in an Arena during a Club Match
• [Beta Feature] You can now remap controls through Steam while playing in Big Picture Mode
• Adjusted the 'Plank' hitbox so associated car behavior now matches the ''16 Batmobile.' Plank cars include:
• 'Centio V17'
• 'Mantis'
• 'Paladin'
• 'Twin Mill III'

General

• Boost exhaust near rear of engine should now be the correct color instead of default orange.
• [PlayStation 4] Game should no longer freeze when starting matchmaking
• Fixed the ‘Striker Legend’ Goal Explosion displaying as ‘Striker Pro’
• Painted ‘MG-88’ and ‘Mummified’ Decals now properly display on Endo
• Fixed a bug that would give incorrect results after filtering by Most Recent
• [Nintendo Switch] Trades involving more than 10 Keys will no longer fail
• Rocket Pass XP Boost amount now correctly displays at the end of a match
• Silver and Gold Season 6 Reward Wheels now correctly display on Battle-Cars
• RLCS Decals now display all relevant details in the trade window
• Fixed an edge near the Wasteland Blue team goal post that caused an irregular bounce

• Tournament creators may not be able to spectate matches

The Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) Season 6 World Champions have been crowned and there’s no doubt that players have been hit with a new wave of post-"LANVegas" inspiration. With everything on the line, Rocket League Esports has been a consistent source of on-field excitement, so let’s take a look at what makes a play memorable (and how we can make our own unforgettable moments).


With practice comes perfection... or at least the hope that you’ll get there, someday. Instead of worrying about making every play perfect, though, you should first focus on taking advantage of the situation. Do you have space and enough boost to take the ball off of the wall for a ceiling shot? Drill yourself with the “= CEILING SHOT =” pack and you’ll be sure to catch your opponents off-guard. Pinging the ball off of the wall like in “Backboard Clears” helps you send a long clear that can not only gives your team time to rotate, but also sets up passes from across the arena. If you’re up for a challenge to test your abilities on the spot, then the “Grand Champion Redirects” pack offers a perfect selection of fast and difficult passes to knock into the back of the net. It takes a lot of practice to recreate some of the most memorable moments and some of us may not be able to, at first, but you never know when you might recreate a play from some of the most epic moments in Rocket League Esports history.


Boost over to last month’s Community Spotlight to find a Custom Training pack that fits your style!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdYvV6P974Y

In most cases, it’s the outrageously high-skill maneuvers that will never be forgotten; much like Mariano ‘Squishymuffinz’ Arruda’s ceiling reset shot during the RLCS Season 4 World Championship Lower Bracket Finals. Looking back a bit further, Kyle Mascitelli created one of the first defining moments of Rocket League Esports when he sank a zero-second buzzer-beater to defeat Cosmic Aftershock in the 2015 MLG Tournament Grand Finals.

Typically, we more easily remember the insanity and creativity of a shot; much like one of the first aerial dribbles ever performed in a competitive match, when Cameron “Kronovi” Bills scored this shot against Kings of Urban (or even some of Linus “al0t” Möllergren’s insane redirects). But it’s not always about the goal itself, as a demolition like Garrett “GarrettG” Gordon’s, can pave the way to a game-winning play.

So what leaves an imprint that we’ll never forget? Creative new shots that we’ve never before seen at such a high level, clutch goals to win it all, and a perfect demolition to clear the way! Do you think we’re missing something? Check out FluuMP’s list with some of the most iconic goals for some more high-octane clips.

What’s your most memorable play? Share it with us on Twitter or the subreddit and maybe you’ll be featured in the next Community Spotlight!