Back in August, we announced our plans to remove paid, randomized Crates from Rocket League by the end of 2019. Today, we’re here to introduce what will replace them and how existing items will transfer to the new system.


A game update in December will introduce a new system called Blueprints. After you play a match of Rocket League, you’ll have a chance to obtain a Blueprint; a new type of drop that will replace Crates. When you receive a Blueprint, it will show you exactly what item you can create from it, for a set price. Once they're in your inventory, Blueprints will allow you to pay to create the item it offers and receive it immediately; or you can leave it in your inventory and choose to create the item later.

Like the Crate items that preceded them, Blueprints can drop with special attributes like Painted, Certified, and Special Editions.



There's more than just Blueprints coming to Rocket League. In the same game update in December, we’ll be introducing a new rotating Item Shop. The Item Shop will offer a wide variety of content including new items, legacy Crate content you might have missed out on, and the long-awaited debuts of items like the Titanium White Dominus. Important note: Item Shop purchases will be bound to your account and cannot be traded.

Items from Blueprints and the Item Shop will be obtained by Credits, our new premium currency replacing Keys. You’ll use Credits to create items from Blueprints, upgrade to Rocket Pass Premium, and buy content from the Item Shop. Esports Tokens will be separate from Credits, and will be the only way to purchase items from the Esports Shop.

There is a lot more to reveal about the Item Shop and we will share more about it in the coming months.



Once the new Blueprint system does go live, your Keys will automatically be converted into Credits the first time you log into Rocket League. Each remaining Crate you have will be converted into a Blueprint of the same series.

But before Blueprints go live later this year, the Vindicator Crate will come to Rocket League this Thursday, October 3. This is the final Crate and it will feature the new Sentinel Battle-Car and Neuro-Agitator Goal Explosion. Get a sneak peek at the Sentinel Battle-Car below:


Additional details about how other items will convert to the Blueprint system will be shared in the next few months.



Changes are coming to our Trade-In system that we want to message well in advance. When Blueprints go live and replace our paid Crates, we will also disable the ability to use paid content with our current Trade-In system.

More specifically, this means that items obtained from Blueprints, the Item Shop, or legacy content acquired from Crates cannot be traded in after these changes go live. We also plan to implement an updated inventory management feature that will allow you to archive items that you don't want to see in your active list of customization items.

This change will not impact your ability to trade in our free post-game drops.



We believe our new Blueprint system will give players more transparency in what they are purchasing. Of course, we will have much more to share about Blueprints and our new Item Shop as we get closer to release before the end of the year. For now, stay tuned for the Vindicator Crate, which will start dropping on October 3.

Your journey through four brand-new Twitch Prime Content Packs starts now! Get primed and ready for exclusive Twitch Prime in-game items in Rocket League beginning with the sleek Nemesis Battle-Car, and concluding with the bombastic Tactical Nuke Goal Explosion!

Begin your journey to unlocking all four Twitch Prime Content Packs by linking your Twitch Prime account with your Rocket League platform of choice. Once your accounts are linked, you'll automatically unlock the first pack containing the Nemesis Battle-Car. Then, you'll unlock a new Content Pack with new items every few weeks, leading to the fourth and final Content Pack. Everything found in these Packs are exclusive to Rocket League's Twitch Prime Content, so be sure to sign up before they're gone for good!

Check out everything you can expect to find in each Twitch Prime Pack, plus check out the release trailer above:

(Available now!)

• Nemesis Battle Car
  
• 6 Nemesis Decals
  
  • Stripes
    
  • Rocket Ball
    
  • Wings
    
  • Lightning
    
  • Full Speed
    
  • Snakeskin

(Available Day 27 of your player journey)

• TP19 Wheels
  
• Drude Engine Audio
  
• Nemesis: Crisis Decal

(Available Day 55 of your player journey)

• Streamer Boost
  
• Luster Animated Decal
  
• Webcam Topper

(Available Day 83 of your player journey)

• Tactical Nuke Goal Explosion
  
• Sushi Board Player Banner
  
• Boba Drink Antenna

Link your Twitch Prime account with your Xbox, PlayStation, Steam, or Nintendo account to unlock the first Content Pack! The first Pack is available now, and you'll be able to unlock the future packs as long as your Twitch Prime account stays active. Players will be eligible for all four Packs if their active Twitch Prime account is linked at any time between now and March 27, 2020.

Get started by linking your Twitch Prime account here. Keep in mind, you can only link your Twitch Prime account to one platform account, so be sure to choose wisely. You can check out the full list of FAQs here. If you're not a Twitch Prime member, you can sign up for a free trial at TwitchPrime.com.

The faster you link your accounts, the faster you'll get each Content Pack, so hit the Twitch Prime page and then the pitch with the latest Pack!

Prepare your Mudcat for the next turn, because it's a big one! The first 2XP Weekend of Rocket Pass 4 is set for this Friday, September 27. Enjoy the boost on your journey to the Pro Tiers!

Once 2XP Weekend begins, you'll earn double the amount of base experience in all Casual, Competitive, and Extra mode Playlist matches via the "+100% special event" XP bonus.

Check out the official start and end times below and enjoy the extra XP!

• 2XP Start Time: Friday, September 27 at 2 p.m. PDT (9 p.m. UTC)
  
• 2XP End Time: Monday, September 30 at 10 a.m. PDT (4 p.m. UTC)

Greetings, Rocket League Community! It's time to refresh the featured training packs to help improve your game. With October right around the corner, this is a special time for us at Psyonix and the community—specifically, the Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket Powered Battle-Cars (SARPBC) Community.

Rocket League's predecessor, SARPBC, is racing toward its 11th anniversary next month! In honor of this momentous occasion, we're refreshing the featured training packs with practice regimens from the OG's of the game. These are veterans who learned how to perform aerial goals and epic saves in SARPBC long before the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) even existed.

Along with the live training packs below, check out how long some of these players have been in the game, and hear some words of wisdom from the long-time players themselves:


Started SARPBC April 2009

"If you want to improve and get better at Rocket League, don't just practice the mechanics. Positioning and rotation are more important than mechanics. Watch some of your own replays and figure out what you have done wrong and work on those things."


Started SARPBCFebruary 2009

"Enjoy yourself, first and foremost. Ground work is just as important as being Squishy doing flippys. Focusing on catching the ball from the air for different scenarios can drastically improve your game, and help you plan ahead for how you want to make your next move. Analyze your own replays if you play as a team. Discuss key points for games when you concede to help find areas of weakness going forward."


Started SARPBCFebruary 2009

"The best way to improve your game is to practice in chunks. Pick the weakest aspect of your game and solely work on it until it’s improved and you're happy with it. The more specific you are, the better. If you play the game with no real improvement goal in mind, your improvement will be a lot slower. You’ll find that it’s really hard to concentrate on one skill while playing, and quickly turn your attention to just winning. This is normal. When you catch yourself falling into that habit, bring your attention back to the skill you’re working on. If double jump aerials are one of your weaknesses, then try my Double Jump Aerial training pack. ”


Started SARPBCJune 2009

"A good way to improve in Rocket League is repeatedly asking yourself, 'What would I want my teammate to do if they were in this situation,' and 'What does my opponent not want me to do in this situation.' Asking these questions while watching yourself in replays from their perspectives will help you recognize good and bad patterns in your play style."


Started SARPBCDecember 2008

"For anyone who's trying to improve, my most important tip would be: don't just practice your mechanics, but also research how to play the game. There's plenty of good video material out there that'll turn you from just a decent mechanical player into an overall solid powerhouse. Apart from that, you should often save replays and watch them thoroughly!"


Started SARPBCAugust 2009

”My advice for new players trying to improve their game would be to stay disciplined and focused with their practice. You will improve quickly if you continue to train and practice no matter what happens, and you'll be glad you worked hard when the results come in.”


We hope these training packs help you reach your Ranked goals in Season 12! 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 for our next Community Spotlight!

Game streaming is a young industry. Most streamers who are at the top of their game didn't grow up with aspirations of making their living as a professional Twitch partner. It's a passion that was cultivated over the span of a few recent years. Owning a Twitch channel with more than 2.5 million views and becoming one of the most popular streamers in the Rocket League community can start as a hobby without a career on the horizon.

Rewind the clock to 2017. Rocket League was in its infancy. Athena, who was better known by her real name Alejandra, was studying marketing at community college in Austin, Texas. At that time, she was on a traditional career path, and her goal was to transfer to a university after the semester. She didn't know exactly how she would apply her marketing knowledge, but she knew she liked video games and people. Then someone gave her a suggestion that would change the trajectory of her career: the suggestion to start her own channel on Twitch.

"I never dreamed of a future as a Rocket League streamer," Athena recalls. "One of my friends said I should stream. At the time, I didn't even know what Twitch or streaming was. I didn't have a good computer setup when I started. My PC was connected to a TV in my parent's place. Everything started small."

The Austin-native loved video games at an early age thanks to an older brother and father who enjoyed the hobby. That love started with games on the GameCube like Super Smash Bros. Melee and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii, but she never thought a career would materialize out of it.

Despite starting small, it didn't take long for her stream to become profitable. While most streamers have to grind for months before breaking through, Athena started making money from her channel just two weeks after the launch thanks to a generous donation from a viewer. This was a surprise to her, but especially to her parents. She was faced with the difficult task of explaining to them how streaming could be a viable avenue for her. This was particularly challenging considering Twitch, and donations given by viewers, were foreign concepts to them.

"I remember when I received my first big donation. I stopped mid-stream and I went to my parents room, and I will never forget the look on their faces," Athena laughs. "They told me I had to return it. They were horrified. I really had to talk them down. My parents had a traditional career path in mind for me: college and a 9-to-5 job. I'm glad I was able to show them another world."

The purpose of the donation was to get an improved streaming setup. She used it to upgrade her facecam and headset. She was even able to upgrade her home's internet to enhance the quality of the stream. With the tools for a top-notch stream ready to go, Athena's channel took off. She became a Twitch partner just four months after starting her stream.



The stream was on a steady rise throughout its two years. Then, this year on June 17, she made a big move by signing with G2 Esports as a content creator. It's a decision that Athena says she always dreamed of, but never thought of as a realistic one.

"When G2 reached out, I was a bit shocked at first," Athena says. "It was really unexpected. For me to join an org with my brand, I really wanted it to be something I believed in, but I also wanted it to be a good fit for me so I could represent them well. G2 was the fit I was looking for. It took my stream to a whole new level. I'm so thankful for the people who stuck with me, believed in me, pushed me to be a better person so I could reach new goals that I never would've thought were achievable. I'm just really, really thankful for G2 and my audience."

Not only was the signing a good fit for Athena's brand, but it was also a good fit for her on a personal level. Her longtime boyfriend, Dillon "Rizzo" Rizzo, plays for G2's Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) team. Surprisingly enough, that relationship made her hesitate at the idea of signing with them.

"With Dillon being a part of G2, I almost declined the offer," Athena says. "As a professional streamer it's very important to me that I succeed on my own merits and not because of my relationship with a professional gamer. But, it's really cool that the same org would want to sponsor both Dillon and me. He's been nothing but an absolutely amazing person, both on a personal level and with his support in my move to G2. I'm really thankful for him."

The Twitch stream is booming, and she's a part of the same organization as Rizzo. Even though everything seems to be going perfectly, that doesn't mean it's easy work. Athena has to put in the work to sustain that growth. The target is streaming live seven days a week. On top of the streaming grind, there's added scrutiny that comes with being the top female Rocket League streamer in a community that is still dominated by males. She says that there's added challenges that come with that territory.

"I think it's just something that every streamer goes through. It's one of the negatives that comes with being in a public space and having yourself out there. Everyone has their own opinions of you. I'm a big fan of streamers like Chellchee, Kiaa, and others who are doing their thing. They're tough cookies."

Sometimes the negativity that comes from making a living online means that taking time to yourself is a necessity. Athena doesn't like to obsess over the negative comments or lost subs. She says that if she needs to take a weekend away from her stream, she does. When she's not streaming, she enjoys playing the piano and traveling to Rocket League events. If it means she can meet some of her audience, she's there. The influence that comes with having a successful Twitch channel isn't lost on her. She wants to see the female Rocket League community grow. For any females thinking of creating Rocket League content, she has this bit of advice:

"For the ladies out there who are just getting into streaming, especially in Rocket League, you've got this. If you show the world that you love to do this, they will accept you for who you are. If they don't, you can just ban them from your chat," she laughs. "On Twitch, you are your own boss. No one else can tell you otherwise."



Check out Athena's channel at https://www.twitch.tv/athena.

• Rocket Pass 4 begins on Wednesday, August 28 at 10:00 a.m. PDT / 5:00 p.m. UTC
  
• Competitive Season 11 Rewards will be awarded to eligible accounts
  
• Competitive Season 12 begins
  

Rocket Pass 4

• Rocket Pass 4 begins on August 28 at 10:00 a.m. PDT / 5:00 p.m. UTC
  
• Weekly Challenges will remain active throughout the entire Rocket Pass
  
  • Example: Week 3 Challenges can be completed in Week 4, 5, and onward until the conclusion of the Rocket Pass they’re included with
    
  • If you purchase Rocket Pass Premium after Rocket Pass 4 has begun, you will be able to access previous week’s Premium Challenges
    

Competitive Season 11 Rewards

• Competitive Season 11 has ended. Titles and items will be awarded for your highest rank achieved during the season
  
  • Receiving Season 11 Rewards also requires successful completion of the appropriate Season Reward Levels
    
• Season 11 Rewards are custom, non-tradeable Boosts
  
  • Bronze I or higher – ‘Season 11 – Bronze’ Boost
    
  • Silver I or higher – ‘Season 11 – Silver’ Boost + lower Boost
    
  • Gold I or higher – ‘Season 11 – Gold’ Boost + lower Boosts
    
  • Platinum I or higher – ‘Season 11 – Platinum’ Boost + lower Boosts
    
  • Diamond I or higher – ‘Season 11 – Diamond’ Boost + lower Boosts
    
  • Champion I or higher – ‘Season 11 – Champion’ Boost + lower Boosts
    
• Grand Champion Rewards
  
  • Competitive Soccar Grand Champion – ‘Season 11 – Grand Champion’ In-Game Title + ‘Season 11 – Grand Champion’ Boost + lower Boosts
    
  • Rumble Grand Champion – ‘Season 11 – RNG Champ’ In-Game Title + ‘Season 11 – Grand Champion’ Boost + lower Boosts
    
  • Dropshot Grand Champion – ‘Season 11 – Floor Destroyer’ In-Game Title + ‘Season 11 – Grand Champion’ Boost + lower Boosts
    
  • Hoops Grand Champion – ‘Season 11 – Dunk Master’ In-Game Title + ‘Season 11 – Grand Champion’ Boost + lower Boosts
    
  • Snow Day Grand Champion – ‘Season 11 – Blizzard Wizard’ In-Game Title + ‘Season 11 – Grand Champion’ Boost + lower Boosts
    

Monstercat (Antennae)

• ‘DESERT STAR’
  

Competitive Season 12

• Competitive Season 12 begins
  
• Season 12 brings a “soft reset” that requires you to do placement matches in each playlist to recalibrate your Rank
  
• Winning half of your placement matches will land you near your previous season ranking
  
• League Rankings will be temporarily empty until players complete their placement matches
  
• All placement match wins count towards your Bronze Season Reward Level progress
  

Certified and Painted Items

• Customization Items now display the full Paint color name inside the thumbnail (when applicable)
  
  • This replaces the thin colored outline in the upper-right corner of the thumbnail
    
• When a Customization Item is both Painted and Certified, the Paint color and Certification labels rotate at regular, two-second intervals
  

New In-Game Stats

• ‘High-Five’
  
  • A ‘High-Five’ registers after a goal is scored by your team, and when you bump into a teammate above the goal
    
• ‘Low-Five’
  
  • A ‘Low-Five’ can only be done after a goal is scored by your team, and when you bump into a teammate at field level
    
• ‘Swish Goal’
  
  • A ‘Swish Goal’ registers when your goal does not touch the rim before going into the hoop
    
  • Swish Goals are only available when playing the Hoops game mode
    

Audio

• The game’s audio mix has been updated, including audio priority rebalancing, HDR audio, and object elevation
  

• Fixed the color on the post-match XP bar for Rocket Pass Premium owners
  
• Shields on ‘Double Goal’ and ‘Underpass’ Arenas now display the appropriate color
  
• [Xbox One] Fixed a bug with the ‘Slash Beam III’ Rocket Boost causing frame rate dips
  
• [Nintendo Switch] Fixed a bug causing supersonic ball audio to play when pushing the ball at subsonic speeds in Training
  
• Adjusted Paint Finish so it no longer affects appearance of body trim on the ‘Werewolf’ Battle-Car
  

You can find an updated list of both active and recently fixed known issues in our new Known Issues in Rocket League article.

Prepare your pacenotes and check your roll cages. Rocket Pass 4 is ready to rally next week! Your climb to the Pro Tiers begins on August 28—just one day after the Season 12 Update goes live.

Leading the pack of new rewards only found in Rocket Pass 4 is none other than Mudcat, the new rally-inspired Battle-Car. As was the case in previous Rocket Passes, you'll unlock Mudcat as soon as you purchase Rocket Pass Premium and begin your journey to unlocking the Mudcat GXT and access to Pro Tiers. Take a look at this rugged ride and some of the other featured items in the Rocket Pass 4 trailer below!



Based on community feedback, Rocket Pass 4's Weekly Challenges are changing! New Challenges won't expire after their week concludes. Now, you'll be able to complete Weekly Challenges at your leisure throughout the duration of Rocket Pass 4.

Just like in Rocket Pass 3, both the Free and Premium tracks will get three new challenges each week. Weekly Challenges help you climb your Tiers even faster with Tier Points. Each Weekly Challenge is worth three, five, or eight Tier Points. Rocket Pass 4 features 70 Tiers, but getting to Tier 70 is only the beginning. Pro Tiers grant Painted or Special Edition versions of select Rocket Pass 4 items, all of which are tradable.

Rocket Pass 4 will begin at 10:00 a.m. PDT (5 p.m. UTC) on August 28 and ends on December 3. Unlock Rocket Pass Premium with 10 Keys or get a head start with the Premium Bundle, which costs 20 Keys. The Premium Bundle comes with Rocket Pass Premium, plus an additional 12 Tiers!

The checkered flag is nearly out on Rocket Pass 3. There's just one more week before Rocket Pass 4. We hope you're ready to rally your team and start climbing those Tiers! How far will you go??

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this blog stated that Rocket Pass 4 ends on December 4. Rocket Pass 4 ends on December 3.

The next update for Rocket League is scheduled for later this month, and it's bringing Competitive Season 11 Rewards and a few new quality-of-life changes to the game. Get ready to download the Season 12 Update on August 27 at 10 a.m. PDT / 5:00 p.m. UTC (pending first party certification).

This update will lay the groundwork for Rocket Pass 4, which will begin the following day on August 28. More info about Rocket Pass 4 will be revealed as we get closer to the day of the update. Plus, the Season 12 Update will add new stats and an all-new audio mix to the game. Get ready to show your teammates some love with the new "High Five" and "Low Five" stats. Achieve a High Five by colliding with a teammate in midair after a goal is scored. A Low Five is performed the same way, but at ground level.

The new audio mix that's coming to Rocket League will take advantage of High-Dynamic Range (HDR) Audio. To put it simply, HDR Audio will emphasize the game's more important sounds while temporarily lowering less important audio such as crowd and ambience to give players a clearer audio experience. We hope this new mix will be music to your ears! For more information about the work that went into bringing HDR Audio to Rocket League and how it affects the game, check out our recent dev interview with our audio team.


There isn't much time before the end of Competitive Season 11 and the Rewards are a brand new Boost!

Similar to previous Competitive Seasons, there's a Boost reward for each rank (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Champion, and Grand Champion). Grand Champion Rank will receive "Season 11 - Grand Champion" Title in addition to all of the Season 11 Boosts. Those who earned the Rank of Grand Champion in Extra Modes will receive the Extra Mode-specific Grand Champion titles. Remember, you have to complete your placement matches in a Competitive Playlist and fulfill the appropriate Season Reward Level in order to earn your rewards for Competitive Season 11. See the full distribution breakdown below:

• Bronze I or higher – Season 11 – Bronze Boost
  
• Silver I or higher – Season 11 – Silver Boost + lower Boost
  
• Gold I or higher – Season 11 – Gold Boost + lower Boosts
  
• Platinum I or higher – Season 11 – Platinum Boost + lower Boosts
  
• Diamond I or higher – Season 11 – Diamond Boosts + lower Boosts
  
• Champion I or higher – Season 11 – Champion Boosts + lower Boosts

• Competitive Grand Champion – ‘Season 11 – Grand Champion’ In-Game Title + Grand Champion Boost + all Season 11 Boosts
  Rumble Grand Champion – ‘Season 11 – RNG Champ’ In-Game Title + Grand Champion Boost + all Season 11 Boosts
  
• Dropshot Grand Champion – ‘Season 11 – Floor Destroyer’ In-Game Title + Grand Champion Boost + all Season 11 Boosts
  
• Hoops Grand Champion – ‘Season 11 – Dunk Master’ In-Game Title + Grand Champion Boost + all Season 11 Boosts
  
• Snow Day Grand Champion – ‘Season 11 – Blizzard Wizard’ In-Game Title + Grand Champion Boost + all Season 11 Boosts

(Note: Grand Champion In-Game Titles for Extra Modes are earned by achieving Grand Champion Rank in each individual Extra Mode)

Season 11 will end two hours before the update goes live at 8 a.m. PDT (3 p.m. UTC) on August 27 and Season 12 will begin once the update goes live. Competitive Season 12 will have the same soft reset that previous competitive seasons had. You will need to complete 10 placement matches per Competitive Playlist to earn your rank, which will likely be near your previously held rank.

You still have time to get to that Competitive Rank you've been working toward, so hit those Competitive Playlists. Good luck and have fun!

There are just 10 seconds left in a tied game. Your teammate has possession, and passes it your way from the wall. You place the shot above the backboard where your opponent can't reach it, launch your car into the air with your remaining boost and follow up the backboard shot with a perfectly placed goal. The Goal Explosion ignites as time expires. The exhilaration is nearly tangible. But meanwhile, there are hundreds of sound effects occurring inside the game that supplement all the excitement of the moment: the siren, the announcer, the crowd, and that only scratches the surface. In moments like this, it may be easy to overlook the sound of Rocket League, but these sounds are an essential part of the experience.

The audio team at Psyonix works tirelessly on the sounds within these moments so Rocket League is able to achieve maximum levels of hype. Recently, the team that consists of sound designer Stephen Lichota, technical sound designer Miles Flanagan, and audio director Mike Ault has been hard at work on bringing High-Dynamic Range (HDR) Audio to the game. In today's world of 4K screens, the term "HDR" is usually reserved for vivid imagery on televisions, but it's also a part of the audio world. HDR Audio may share the name of HDR imaging, but it's a different concept entirely. While you need an HDR television to enjoy HDR programming, HDR Audio doesn't require any additional hardware and is specifically designed for video games. It enhances the mix of the audio so players will be able to more clearly hear the sounds that are important in the moment. That's the simplest way to describe this audio system that is anything but simple.

"HDR Audio is one of the hardest things to explain," says Stephen. "Even when we're constantly working with it, it can still throw your brain for a loop. Normally, you have a fader that you can adjust to make certain sound effects louder than others. It doesn't quite work like that in HDR Audio. It doesn't make sound louder. Instead, it makes other sounds quieter so there's an emphasis on specific sounds. So, then you're trying to listen for the things that the system is altering."

That's essentially what Rocket League's upgrade to HDR Audio is going to do. The sounds that are more important will be prioritized in a way so that they can be heard more clearly when they happen. "The whole goal is for you to hear what you want to hear the most," Mike explains. "So, you hear other cars, and you hear positional information better like where the ball is. Extra sound effects like crowd and ambience are moving out of the way. It all gives you a cleaner sense of the game."

This new sound mix didn't happen overnight. HDR Audio was attempted in the past, as early as the game's Neo Tokyo Arena release in 2016. But, that audio overhaul came with some growing pains. The world of audio engineering is not an exact science. There's only so much testing you do before the game is being played in online conditions. It's nearly impossible to recreate every combination of audio cues that could possibly happen in any given match. Plus, each update with new Boosts, Arenas, Battle-Cars, and Goal Explosions adds to the ever-growing library of sound effects.

"Rocket League is in its fifth year," Mike says. "There's so much sound-related content when you consider boosts, crowd noise, engine audio and so much more. Then, you stack 20 or 30 of those sounds at any given time. It can be pretty daunting to find where something is sounding wrong."

In addition to that challenge for the audio team, there's the issue of players experiencing the game's sound in vastly different environments. Some players rely on speakers built into a TV or monitor, while others may have high-fidelity sound systems. Most players, however, use headphones during their gaming sessions. In the past, Rocket League's audio mixes were primarily designed on top-notch sound systems, but that's not how most people are listening to the game's audio. The HDR Audio update is the game's first audio mix that was designed with a focus on headphones.

"When we did our last mix, we were doing it in one of our rooms in super high fidelity and listening to the audio at a louder volume than our community listening at home at night could realistically reproduce," Mike explains. "We created a very dynamic mix that we thought sounded fantastic. The vast majority of our players don't play Rocket League that way. So, rightfully so, we got a wide range of player feedback. This time, we took every step we could to recreate listening situations that our playerbase commonly experiences."

Throughout the development of this mix, the team played different games that handle dynamics in various ways. One game that stood out as an audio benchmark was Rainbow Six: Siege. According to the team, the sound design of Siege stands with its range dynamics of tensely quiet and bombastically loud states. Miles says that while this design can help guide the direction of Rocket League, Rocket League is a different beast entirely. "In Rocket League, you're driving a car that's accelerating and boosting nearly all the time," he explains. "That's essentially the only state of play, whereas Siege has two very different general levels of audio. It's a different case, but we can definitely take some useful cues from Siege."

One of those cues is to bring adjustable Dynamic Range Controls to Rocket League in a future update after HDR Audio hits the game and the team is able to monitor player feedback.

Once HDR Audio rolls out with the next update, the best advice Mike can give: have an open mind when you hear the changes for the first time. "There's this phenomenon in the audio world called 'temp love,'" he explains. "It says that people get attached to what they're used to. We're asking people to give it a chance. It will sound different. If it didn't sound different, then it defeats the purpose of remixing the audio. We genuinely feel that this is a major improvement and hope people approach it with an open mind. We're looking forward to hearing community feedback and using that to create the best possible listening experience."

Look out for HDR Audio in Rocket League's next update scheduled for August 27.