- Primary Subject: Rocket League Season 21 (v2.63)
- Key Update: A detailed critique suggests Epic Games must overhaul the Item Shop with search functionality, trade-in credits, and humanoid characters to fix the game's stagnant economy.
- Status: Concept/Fan Proposal (Not officially confirmed).
- Last Verified: January 21, 2026
- Quick Answer: Rocket League's Item Shop is struggling due to high prices and the 2023 trading ban; experts suggest an "Amazon-style" catalog and trade-ins to revive interest.
Gameplay aside, one of Rocket League’s biggest problems comes as a side effect of its own evolution. Going free-to-play in late 2020 after being acquired by Epic Games, their new business model required their passionate fanbases to get hooked on a unique video game enough to pay up for their overpriced items in the shop, just like big bro Fortnite.
Soon, Epic discovered this was not going to be the case. It didn’t matter if the entire Item Shop was covered in the rarest items; the hype wasn’t close in comparison to Fortnite’s or even Fall Guys’ drops. Then, to incentivize more purchases directly from their shelves, developers Psyonix axed player-to-player item trading in late 2023, slashing players’ trust in half without shifting sales in any significant way.
This led players to bash and lambast any collaboration that did end up dropping, either for its low effort, lack of variety, or high price. As for regular in-game items, their popularity quickly settled as the player economy crashed with the trading ban, excluding players who still hadn’t gotten around to getting inventory essentials like Cristianos, Interstellars, and Poofs.
The idea behind the sudden pull of the rug was to force rocketeers to take an interest in the Item Shops rotation, news, and drops, with neither being any more relevant than when they first went F2P or tradeless, six and three years ago, respectively.
So, how do we save the Rocket League shop in 2026? Well, to prevent another Epic Games acquisition from dying, we must first look at the title that gave the company the funds to conquer the gaming world in the first place.
Fortnite’s formula is quite simple: keep it fresh. Switching gameplay, maps, and shops makes the experience brand-new for returning customers, I mean, players, while also creating bubbles of nostalgia as the years pass. Even more opportunities to capitalize on the users’ pockets.
Rocket League, however, seems to completely miss the mark when trying to replicate this approach. The shop features eight consistent items of varying rarities for 24 hours to increase value and demand, but this has fallen flat due to players’ disinterest.
First and foremost, Psyonix must make all Rocket League items available in the item shop like an Amazon of sorts. You should be able to search for, find, and order color variants, certifications, and whatnot for shipment.
Unboxing should be fun, with a quirky animation that opens, assembles, and reveals your new car body. Knowledgeable drivers should be rewarded for their fashion choices rather than punished by an endless wait for their specific piece to arrive at the shop.
To recycle old inventory, the shop should offer a trade-in option that converts items into in-game credits, with a monthly limit. This allows players to remain invested in the economy while still controlling income without allowing dupes and veteran traders to not spend a dime for the next Rocket League decade.
In addition to other packs, collabs, and esports decals, the current shop display is no man’s land, rendering the rarity tiers, rotations, and licensing efforts utterly useless. We fix this from the get-go by switching from the tab approach to the endless scroll of doom, like in Fortnite.
Tabs compartmentalize and hide, scroll illustrates and encourages. Once piled vertically, we need to better illustrate these collaborations. In-game models with a 10-year-old background will not make the cut anymore, so either embed a video trailer for the item or rig new car angles to showcase the drop.
Lastly, to compete with Fortnite’s organic appeal, Rocket League must desperately add humanoid characters that cheer, coach, or at least react to in-game action. It’s hard to sell faceless cars for over a decade, and translating world-class IPs to just logos on cars, goal explosions, and wheels isn’t doing the trick.
Much like Fortnite Sidekicks, Rocket League must start thinking about cute companions that can mirror or even anticipate the game’s experience instead of having players immediately jump to negative conclusions while screaming them into the void, a recurring player activity after five years waiting for a sequel.
With little to no hope for this game to come back from the dead, I sure hope Rocket League 2 does get to a better start with these free-to-play shop tweaks, even if those exist within the Fortnite Launcher. Vroom, vroom, I guess?
For more like this, stick with us here at Gfinityesports.com, the best website for gaming features and opinions.