- Rocket League replaces loot boxes with an item store

Rocket League players will no longer have to worry about grinding for new crates and the keys that unlock them in order to get the custom skins they want. But the new alternative will hurt their wallets.

Yesterday, Rocket League’s Blueprint update went live, kicking off season 12 and adding a new item shop where players can just buy whatever items they want outright. Players’ existing crates were converted into blueprints, which they can craft by spending credits, an in-game currency bought with real cash. Existing keys, meanwhile, were liquidated into additional credits.

Now your $1 will net you only the least desirable items, and you'll still need to shell out a minimum of $5 for 500 credits, the smallest bundle. You know exactly what you're getting, unlike the crates, but this transparency comes at a steep cost. And if you want to Buy Rocket League Credits, visit 5mmo.com, a professional online in-game currency store.

One of the shop's current featured items is a car that's being sold for 1,200 credits, which is technically just over $10, but you'll actually need to buy two bundles of credits, 500 and 1,100, if your balance is empty, costing you around $15. Some of these items have been in the game for years—with players trading them for a few keys each, worth a few bucks—but they're now being sold for nearly ten times that by Psyonix.

If you still have keys and crates laying around in your inventory, they will be converted to Credits and Blueprints respectively, say Psyonix. Crate drops and key purchases were halted yesterday in preparation for today’s changeover. Rocket League’s Blueprint Update today also marks the beginning of competitive season 13 and Rocket Pass 5. You can read more of Psyonix’s detailed notes on Blueprints and the Item shop on the blog.