Radical Summer is in full swing, and the new Totally Awesome Crate is ready to bring some righteous in-game items to the party. You can expect the crate to start dropping on Monday, July 1 at 10:00 a.m. PDT (5:00 p.m. UTC).
The Totally Awesome Crate will have more than a dozen customization options including the brand-new, bodacious Battle-Car, Fennec. Plus, the three new Wheels being introduced will have Special Edition variants. In-game items in the Totally Awesome Crate are subject to the same drop rates as our previous Crates, which you can find here.
We hope you're digging the '80s celebration throughout Radical Summer. As always, stay radical!
Join us for the biggest ’80s summer bash Rocket League has ever thrown! Radical Summer is now live, and it all starts with a totally awesome celebration of '80s Blockbusters.
The first phase of Radical Summer celebrates some of the most beloved franchises of the decade, starting with Ghostbusters, which is celebrating its 35th Anniversary this June. The Ghostbusters Ecto-1 Car Pack Premium Licensed DLC includes the Ecto-1 Battle-Car, Ecto-1 Wheels, Slimer Topper, Proton Pack Boost, Ghostbusters Avatar Border and Player Banner, and the Stay Puft Goal Explosion. The Car Pack is now available for $1.99 USD (or regional equivalent).
Also try out the new limited-run Ghost Hunt mode! Two teams of three enter a spooky version of the Urban Central Arena and attempt to trap the ball with their proton stream power-ups in the Containment Zone. Ghost Hunt will be available throughout the Blockbusters phase of Radical Summer.
There are plenty of tubular in-game Event Items to earn throughout Radical Summer. The Blockbuster phase features items inspired by '80s movies like Back to the Future, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Goonies, and The Karate Kid. You can earn these items in the Event Store by redeeming Cassettes. Cassettes can be earned by playing Online Matches in Casual, Competitive, and Extra Playlists. Check out some of the rad event items below.
The Blockbusters Phase will last until July 1, when the extremely excellent celebration of ’80s cultures begins. The event store will refresh with new items for each phase of Radical Summer with the most choice 80s-inspired items. But, don't have a cow if you didn't get a chance to score your favorites. All three Event Stores from each phase will open for a short redemption period after Radical Summer ends in August.
Expect more info on the Culture and Television phases of Radical Summer very soon. Stay tuned, and start earning those Cassettes for some of the most radical items in Rocket League! Stay gnarly!
Summer is (supposedly) upon us, and Rocket League is celebrating the season with a nostalgic trip back to the 80s - and a nine-week run of events and goodies, inspired by the era's most iconic movies and TV.
Developer Psyonix is calling its sun-bleached 80s event Radical Summer, and things get underway on Monday, 10th June. The focus is entirely on iconic movies until 1st July, with the highlight arguably being the arrival of Rocket League's new Ghostbusters Ecto-1 Car Pack. This introduces the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 Battle-Car, Ecto-1 Wheels, Proton Pack Boost, Slimer Topper, Ghostbusters Player Banner, Ghostbusters Avatar Border, and the Stay Puft Goal Explosion - all for an entirely reasonable $1.99 USD (likely to be around 1.69).
Players can also take part in online matches to earn Cassettes during the whole nine-week event, and these are used to unlock in-game items - inspired by the likes of Karate Kid, Back to the Future, ET, and The Goonies during movie weeks - in the Radical Summer Event Store.
Rocket League will take a trip back in time next week with the start of a new in-game event called Radical Summer. Beginning June 10 and running for nine weeks, the event will return players to the glory days of the 1980s with three separate celebrations of "iconic movies, television, and culture" from the era with new items, time-limited game modes, and cars.
First up, from June 10 to July 1, is '80s Blockbusters, which will feature the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 Car Pack, with the Ecto-1 Battle-Car, Ecto-1 Wheels, Proton Pack Boost, Slimer Topper, a Ghostbusters player banner and avatar, and the Stay Puft Goal Explosion, for $2. It will also feature the event's first limited-time game mode, appropriately called Ghost Hunt, a 3v3 contest in which players use proton streams (don't cross them) to capture the ball and then deposit it into the opposing team's Containment Zone. The Blockbusters segment will also feature other big summer flicks from the day including Back to the Future, ET, The Goonies, and Karate Kid.
Once the films are finished, it'll be time to move on to '80s Culture, whatever that was. A new Spike Rush mode that gives all players the Spike powerup from Rumble will be playable from July 1-22, and there will also be new items "highlighting the iconic culture of the '80s" (so, leg warmers, the Walkman, and ridiculous haircuts?) available in the Rocket League store.
Last but not least, from July 22 to August 12, '80s Television will step into the spotlight with a tribute to that inimitable cultural touchstone, Knight Rider. There will of course be a Knight Rider car pack featuring KITT and other Knight Industries-themed items (details will be revealed later) and a 2v2 Beach Ball mode with a larger ball, lower ball gravity, and the Curveball mutator in play. The television segment will also feature appearances by DreamWorks Voltron Legendary Defender and stuff from WWE but not, apparently, Hardcastle and McCormick, despite it having the vastly superior-to-KITT Cody Coyote. I don't even know Psyonix could be thinking here.
I'm also a bit mystified by the absence of a segment built around '80s music. Videogames are more of a visual than an aural medium, sure, but music is one of the few things from that era that most of us who lived through it don't reflexively disavow—except, ironically, stuff like this.
An update to prep Rocket League for the big blast from the past will be rolled out today, and should be live by the time you read this. You can stay on top of the situation at rocketleague.com.
You're totally invited to Radical Summer—a summer-long celebration of all things ’80s. Grab your aviator shades and mixtapes, and prepare to go back in time to experience the most righteous movies, television, and culture from the decade.
Radical Summer is an in-game event, kicking off on June 10. The 9-week event will feature free items, new Premium Licensed DLCs, limited-time game modes, and more! (shhh, it’s a secret)
This extremely choice event is split into three celebrations of the 1980s: Blockbusters, Culture, and Television. Each celebration lasts three weeks. Similar to previous events, play Online Matches to earn ‘Cassettes’ and redeem them for in-game, '80s-themed items all summer long. Radical Summer's Event Store will change for each phase of Radical Summer, bringing in new items for your Battle-Car. And don’t worry, at the end of the event, we’ll give you a week to redeem Cassettes for any items you may have missed.
Celebrating the biggest franchises of the '80s
You can't throw a summer bash without friends, and we're inviting the biggest '80s franchises to Rocket League. Here's every '80s franchise you can expect to see in Radical Summer:
Ghostbusters
Knight Rider
Back to the Future
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
The Goonies
Karate Kid
DreamWorks Voltron Legendary Defender
WWE
Plus, Golden Eggs are back as part of Radical Summer, and this time will contain items from Elevation, Victory, Turbo, and Nitro Crates. Up to five Golden Eggs can be acquired for each phase of the event.
Ecto-1 and K.I.T.T. enter the arena
Radical Summer will start and end with two new Premium Licensed DLC with the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 and Knight Rider Car Packs.
Get ready to go ghost hunting in the Ecto-1. The Ghostbusters Ecto-1 Car Pack will include a bunch of fan-favorite items from the iconic Ghostbusters, which is celebrating its 35th Anniversary, including the Ecto-1 Battle-Car, Ecto-1 Wheels, Proton Pack Rocket Boost, Slimer Topper, Ghostbusters Player Banner and Avatar Border, and the Stay Puft Goal Explosion.
K.I.T.T., the high-speed, talking futuristic car outfitted with high-tech gadgets and a personality of its own from the hit '80s show Knight Rider, is reporting for duty and will come as part of its own Car Pack later in Radical Summer!
The Ghostbusters Ecto-1 Car Pack will be available for $1.99 (or regional equivalent) on June 10. Stay tuned for more info on the Knight Rider Car Pack later during Radical Summer.
New Limited Modes
The Radical Summer party starts on the field with three new limited-time game modes that will be featured individually throughout the event. To celebrate the arrival of Ghostbusters' Ecto-1 Battle-Car, jump into the new wickedly spooky Ghost Hunt Mode. Ghost Hunt, which will be featured in the Blockbusters phase of Radical Summer, is a 3v3 mode where each team uses their proton stream power-ups to try to trap the ghostly ball in your opponents' Containment Zone. Ghost hunt features new, scary lighting and ghostly sound effects on the Urban Central Arena and will be playable until July 1.
Kicking off Radical Summer's Culture phase will be the high-octane Spike Rush mode. In this 3v3 mode, each player has the Spike power-up from Rumble Mode that can be activated to carry the ball, and deactivated to pull off some wild psych outs. It all goes down on our Throwback Stadium Arena to commemorate Rocket League's fourth anniversary.
Hit the beaches of Salty Shores to close out Radical Summer in our Beach Ball Mode. Beach Ball Mode features 2v2 action with a larger ball, low ball gravity, and the Curveball mutator activated. So enjoy this sunny, feel-good mode that is worthy of a classic '80s beach volleyball montage.
Here are the start and end dates of Radical Summer's three event phases. Each phase will begin at 10 a.m. PDT (5 p.m. UTC) on their respective start dates:
'80s Blockbusters: June 10 - July 1
'80s Culture: July 1 - July 22
'80s Television July 22 - August 12
A game update will be ready for download today at 10:00 a.m. PDT (5:00 p.m. UTC) that will get everything ready for Radical Summer next week. We're excited to share everything that we've packed into this event. Stay tuned for even more info on the next phases of Radical Summer. Until then, stay rad!
The World Championship of the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) are mere weeks away. Starting June 21, the best in the world will compete for the title of World Champion live at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
But, these pros didn't get to that level overnight. It took thousands of hours of practice and perseverance. Nobody knows Rocket League like these players do, which is why you're not going to want to miss the latest featured Training Pack if you're trying to elevate your game. This batch of Training Packs has been custom made by current and former RLCS pros. They'll help you brush up on high-level mechanics like redirect shots and backboard reads, and hone your skills for fundamentals like defense and striking. Check out this batch of Training Packs below.
Think you've created the next great Custom Training Pack? Let us know by sharing it on Discord, Reddit, and Twitter. We go through fan-submitted Training Packs each month, and could even choose yours in our next Community
Photo modes have become a mainstay in video games across a wide variety of genres over the past couple years. They give players an up-close look at every distinct detail that goes into the visuals of our favorite games, plus allow content creators to craft truly amazing, unique images.* Rocket League's* most recent update added a similar feature called Replay FX—a suite of controls that made it possible for fans to heavily edit the look of their best plays from the pitch.
Replay FX adds the ability to adjust the look of saved replays by adding filters, focus points, vignettes, and greenscreen effects that make the fan art possibilities endless. The controls are still in beta as this is the first time a feature of this type have been added to the game. The development team is still exploring how content creators are using these tools, what's working, and what can be added in the future. But, just because it's in beta doesn't mean it came together overnight.
The team leading the charge behind Replay FX is led by senior graphics engineer Art Mata, graphics engineer Nate Danque, and tools engineer Mark Masilionis. A photo mode for Rocket League had been in talks for a while, and it took the team roughly a year to make it a fully-fledged feature. What would eventually become Replay FX started as a series of behind-the-scenes tools made for different teams at Psyonix. The video producers wanted a mod that could give their highlight or promotional videos a different look and feel, and give them more freedom when capturing gameplay footage. Mark's job as tools engineer is to create those types of tools.
Adding a couple tools for players to adjust replays was a good start, but changing the depth of field wasn't quite enough to pursue as a new game feature by itself. Then Mark got a new request to make a greenscreen effect for the creative services team, the group that creates graphic designs for Rocket League websites and high-resolution screenshots of Battle-Cars and items. "That project took me a couple of days," Mark said. "Obviously, it didn't have to be production quality or anything. They just needed it to work."
Mark made these tools designed to be used by these different parts of Psyonix development. Then game director Scott Rudi took notice. "We just had gotten it to a point where we were comfortable giving it to the video producers," Art recalls. "Then a week later, Scott asked, 'hey, what's it going to take to get this into a patch?' We had to take a long look at the work ahead of us." The reality: console work to make sure Replay FX would run smoothly on all platforms, and a user interface (UI) that worked the way they wanted it to, and still made it easy to use for players. UI can be a particularly daunting task since the UI team is often busy on different Rocket League projects.
At that time, Nate had just joined the Psyonix team, and was handed the Replay FX project roughly a month after his start date. From there, his job was making sure the feature was working properly. Plus, the team kept coming up with new ideas for filters.
"I prototyped a few more filters, but we had to make sure we were staying within performance budgets and ensure frame rates were staying stable," Art said. "I whipped up a few, Nate put some together, and we added what we thought would be some really interesting features that the community could use for utility. We started going in that direction and it started getting more complicated."
After roughly a year's worth of time and effort, the team would eventually get it in its beta form as a part of the Esports Shop Update. According to Nate, there is still room for improvement and opportunity to add features in the future. Those features may be additional filters, or perhaps even the ability to equip different wheels, decals, and goal explosions in replays, which is one of Mark's dream features.
"For now, we're listening and tuning according to feedback," Art says. "We'll definitely have more filters on the way, and right now we're just seeing what's possible and what we can fit and what works."
Art, Nate, and Mark agree that the best part of Replay FX has been the community reception. They have been overwhelmed by the positive response and the creations made by fans. Check out some of their favorite creations here and here.
"Honestly, it's cool that it's being received so well, but even cooler to see what they're making with it," Mark said. "I love seeing the amazing things everyone is creating. It's just so rewarding that they're able to make all of this art."
"It's humbling," Art said. "Whenever we put out stuff like this, we know it's going to go to a community that's passionate, and they want to share that passion with their friends. That's always exciting. It's inspiring. It makes me want to go back and do more for the community. Let's see how far we can push this thing."
If you're enjoying Replay FX, be sure to share your creations with us. Tag @RocketLeague on Twitter and use the hashtag #RLReplayFX. We feature Fan Art every Friday, and may even use one of your creations.
It's hard to believe that we're almost to the halfway mark of 2019, but believe it you should, because it means that we're ready for a brand new Roadmap that sheds some light on the new features and improvements we're bringing to the game over the next several months.
Of course, you've probably already read this month's "Epic News," which is why we also want to assure you (and the rest of our community) that Rocket League will continue to be shaped by the same development team that it always has even if our family is getting quite a bit bigger. The game will also continue to be fueled and inspired by the passion and feedback of our dedicated playerbase just as it was before.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at what you can expect to see in the next few months of 2019!
Summer Event with Limited-Time Events
Next month, we will kick off the biggest in-game event that Rocket League has ever had, featuring several limited-time events. While the event on the whole will share the same in-game currency for items that can be redeemed inside the event store, the items found in the event store itself will change as we move through different points in the promotion; giving you more in-game items to earn than ever before.
We know that players can sometimes earn more event currency than they sometimes use, so we're addressing that by adding XP Level-Up Packs in the event store as well (a Rocket League first)! That means that players will be able to redeem event currency for XP Level-Up Packs that grant 10 Tier Points for Rocket Pass -- allowing you to boost your Rocket Pass Tiers in a super-fast and super-convenient way!
Party-Up System, Inventory Management, and Trading
The community has been asking us for quicker ways to party-up with strangers following a good match. That functionality will be coming later this year. Soon, you'll be able to easily party-up with teammates from the post-game screen.
Inventories are growing too, and that calls for better ways to organize all of your in-game items. We're happy to say that additional inventory management tools will also be added via a future update.
Finally, one of our long-term goals for 2019 and beyond is to make a number of under-the-hood, quality-of-life updates to our trading system. We’ll have more to share on that later this year.
RLCS Season 7 World Championship Incoming!
The RLCS Season 7 World Championship at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ is just around the corner and tickets are selling fast. Get your tickets now to catch all the live action from the world's best Rocket League teams. Also, Competitive Season 10 ends on Monday, May 13, so make sure you fulfill your Season Reward Level wins at your rank to earn the appropriate goodies.
Stay tuned next month for the full reveal of our upcoming event. Plus, you can expect to see the aforementioned features (and more) later this year. For fans looking to find out more regarding what our acquisition by Epic Games means for Rocket League and Psyonix in the long-term -- there's nothing new to report just yet, but we'll keep you informed as soon as we have an update.
