The player-to-player cosmetic trading feature will be removed from Rocket League within the next two months, developer Psyonix announced today—and the Epic-forced decision has been met with a frustrated and angry response from the game’s player base.
The feature will officially be removed on Dec. 5, which lines up with the launch of season 13. From that point on, players will no longer be able to trade items with each other, forcing them to either grind out in-game events or pay for new items themselves. In its statement, Psyonix wrote that the change is being made “to align with Epic’s overall approach to game cosmetics and item shop policies, where items aren’t tradable, transferrable, or sellable.”
Any trades that are made before Dec. 5 will be finalized when the deadline passes, even if the transfer was just a loan. The trade-in system, where players can trade in duplicate or unwanted weapons for items, will still be usable. The removal of the feature that’s been a part of the game for years has understandably received an overwhelmingly negative reception from the community.
“I’d run this game better than whoever is making these decisions,” wrote former player/coach and current content creator Treyven “Lethamyr” Robitaille on Twitter. “I’m heated at how poorly this game is being treated. Rocket League deserves better.”
Several other pro players, community members, and even professional organizations all expressed shock and dismay that this change has occurred. The change will also effectively be a death sentence to any third-party Rocket League marketplace sites that require the in-game player trading feature to move items.
