Rocket League Patches Eye Optimization For Future

There is no denying the insanely robust popularity of Rocket League and the momentum it has built.

It’s popularity, which continuing to climb, is proof of that.

Recent patches have two arenas in the game that featured erratic terrain have been removed, replaced by flat fields.

The development team used social studies to gauge player experience and concluded that  the alternate arenas didn’t offer enough strategic differences to offset interfering with player’s muscle memory.

“We didn’t have a strong belief in the future of different layouts given our internal explorations and the mixed success of our ‘Rocket Labs’ arena testing playlist,” Davis said in an email interview with Compete.

“And ultimately we think Rocket League has a lot in common with traditional sports where standards give players and teams the consistency they need to truly master things.”

Players have also noticed a change to car body types. For example, steering and handling are being standardized to fit certain car and represent what that car is expected to do based on it’s build.

“First, our standardization efforts are categorically NOT an attempt to change how a car like Batmobile feels to you” Davis wrote.

“We are not interested in making everything an Octane clone. However, we did want to provide consistency within groups of the most popular vehicles – e.g. Batmobile/Mantis/Twinmill.”

The patches are intended, in part, to create a set of rules for the game as it continues to grow, react to gamer experience and to optimize future car and arena design.

“If this was May 2015 and Rocket League hadn’t released yet I might answer differently [about each car being unique],” wrote Davis.

“But because we’re over two years in and players have become very attached to specific car behaviors like the Batmobile, we aren’t currently interested in trying to take away any of that unique flavor. We’re just trying to bring some of the less used cars into alignment with those favorites.”