Rocket League 1.81 Update Patch Notes

What are the Rocket League 1.81 update patch notes? With the game moving one step closer towards its massive free-to-play update, some important new features needed to be added. New to the game following the update is cross-platform progression (which is huge), Legacy Status and items, and more.

Read on to discover everything that’s being added, changed, and fixed in the Rocket League cross-platform progression update. Discover what’s new in the Rocket League September 16 update below.

Rocket League 1.81 update highlights

Rocket League 1.81 update patch notes

From 9 AM PDT, September 16, 2020, cross-platform progression will be live in Rocket League in what is a big move for the game and players alike. After updating, you’ll get hold of your Legacy Status and items, too. There’s plenty to like about the new Rocket League update today, so let’s dig in.

Cross-platform progression

Once you have installed the 1.81 update, you will be able to link your Epic Games Account to Rocket League. This will give you cross-platform progression across all platforms (PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Switch). Remember, though, to make your current platform (or the one with your best stats and items) your Primary Platform.

This is coming just in time for the free-to-play update on September 23, 2020. Once you play Rocket League on a new platform, simply link the game to your Epic Games Account to have access to cross-platform progression. What’s more, once the game goes free-to-play, you won’t need PlayStation Plus or Nintendo Switch Online to play.

Legacy Status and items

Following the 1.81 update, you will be granted Legacy Status. Anyone who has played Rocket League before it goes free-to-play on September 23, will be given Legacy Status. While it sounds cool enough anyway, you will also receive the following, for free (as per this official blog post):

All Rocket League-branded DLC released before free to play
“Est. 20XX” title that displays the first year you played Rocket League
200+ Common items upgraded to “Legacy” quality
Golden Cosmos Boost
Dieci-Oro Wheels
Huntress Player Banner
Faded Cosmos Boost (if you’ve played Rocket League online before July 21, 2020)

Other additions and changes

Other big new additions are new Quick Chat options, Epic Support-A-Creator, Heatseeker in Private Matches, remixes of Monstercat tunes, and more. Check it all out below.

THE HEADLINES

Epic Games Account Linking and Cross-Platform Progression are now available
Nintendo Switch Online is no longer required to play Rocket League online
Check out all of the Menu and UI changes!
Added a new Vehicle Preset based on the Merc car

EPIC GAMES ACCOUNT AND CROSS-PLATFORM PROGRESSION

Progression and Account Linking

You can now link each platform you play Rocket League to a single Epic Games Account to share progression, inventory, Rocket Pass progress, Competitive Rank, and more everywhere you play
For progression data, you will select a Primary Platform to progress everywhere. If you’re Level 1000 and Champion II on PC, and Level 500 and Diamond III on your console, you’ll want to pick your PC profile as your Primary
We strongly recommend you link every account you play at the same time so you can make an informed choice when selecting your Primary Platform
For more information, please read our blog post on Cross-Platform Progression
Players who linked their existing Rocket League platforms to an Epic Games Account will also receive the ‘Chopper EG’ Wheels

Epic Friends

Epic Friends have replaced RocketID as the solution for cross-platform friends in Rocket League
Your RocketID friends will be automatically converted into Epic Friends on your first login.
The In-Game Friends List has been updated to display both your platform friends and your Epic Friends in one panel for easier access

Legacy Status

If you played Rocket League before the free to play update was released, you have Legacy status
Legacy status includes special loyalty reward items, including a Boost, Wheel, Banner, and a special Title that commemorates the year your account was created:
- ‘Faded Cosmos’ Boost (limited to accounts created prior to July 21)
- ‘Golden Cosmos’ Boost
- ‘Dieci-Oro’ Wheel
- ‘Huntress’ Player Banner
- ‘Est. 20XX’ Title
Legacy status holders also get special “Legacy” quality versions of every Common item available before the free to play changeover, as well as access to all non-licensed DLC items

Player-to-Player Trading

Trading with another player now requires a linked Epic Games Account
Trading with another player now requires both accounts to have purchased 500 Credits or equivalent (Esports Tokens, Starter Pack, etc.) to deter fraud.
- Players with Legacy status are exempt from this requirement

NEW PLAYER EXPERIENCE

Players new to Rocket League with this update will see a new interactive intro cinematic, as well as special guidance when navigating the in-game menus
New players will need to reach Level 10 before they can matchmake in Competitive Playlists

TOURNAMENTS

NOTE: The new Tournaments system will be live with this release, but only a limited number of test Tournaments will be scheduled until we transition Rocket League to free to play.

The Tournaments system has been redesigned and now offers automated Competitive Tournaments at set times per day, per region
While you can still sign up with a full party, Competitive Tournament matchmaking will attempt to find you a team if you can’t join with a full group
Mixed-Rank parties will be placed in a Tournament based on the Rank of the highest-skill player
Playing at your skill – even if you lose! – is always more efficient than winning at a lower Rank
Teams knocked out of the tournament in the first round may be able to re-join during a ‘late joiner’ round
Leaving a Tournament early may lead to temporary matchmaking and Tournament bans on your account
- If your entire team forfeits, no bans will be issued
Earn rewards over the course of each season by defeating opponents of similar skill
- You’ll earn Tournament Credits based on your final placement in each Tournament combined with the difficulty of the overall bracket you were seeded into
- The Tournament Credit reward is the same for all teammates
- Tournament Credits can be redeemed to get Cups that will grant you a customization item of escalating quality
  - The higher level the Cup, the more often you’ll unlock an item of higher rarity
  - All Tournament items can have special attributes like Painted or Certified
  - These prizes can be traded in within their series, all the way up to Black Market
- You can play in as many tournaments as you want each week, but most of your earnings will come from your Top 3 Weekly Placements, which reset at the end of each week on Sunday
- Winning a Tournament earns you a Title that shows off the Rank of the Tournament you won.
  - Winning three similarly ranked tournaments throughout a season will grant you a colored Title at that Rank.
Players are still able to create and host their own Custom Tournaments
- Knocked out of the Tournament you’re hosting? You’ll be able to spectate the remaining matches

MENU AND UI UPDATES

The Main Menu has been streamlined to reduce the number of buttons and better organize features
Play Submenu: Modes are now grouped into cards instead of tabs
- Selecting a Playlist will now immediately search that playlist
- For players who prefer to search multiple playlists at once, you can enable “Multiple Selection” within any of the Playlist groups. This setting is saved so you won’t have to toggle it each time you search.
- You can now quickly jump into Free Play or the Garage after searching
- Training is now accessible directly from the Play menu
- Exhibition, Season Mode, and Private Match have been combined into the “Custom Games” card
The Profile Submenu now contains:
- Career (Stats, Leaderboards, Rankings)
- Replays
- Create or Manage Club
- Banner and Avatar Border customization options
The Extras Submenu is now found under Options – Extras
The appearance of the Main Menu and some submenus have been updated with new font and button/card designs

CHANGES AND UPDATES

Item Changes

Many items formerly classified as Common are now Uncommon or higher, and must be obtained via Drops by new players
Common Items are no longer unlocked in large batches per slot by playing matches. Any player with Legacy status that had not unlocked all of these items will receive remaining items in “Legacy” quality
Uncommon, Rare, and Very Rare Items no longer drop randomly after matches
- These will be replaced by a new Drops system coming with free to play
Some cross-promotional items have been permanently marked as “Legacy” and can no longer be obtained by new accounts
Some older ‘V1’ Engine Audio options can no longer be obtained by new accounts

Support a Creator

You can now support your favorite content creators by applying a Creator Code to your account in the Item Shop screen
Your chosen creator will receive a percentage of your Credits spent while the code is active on your account

Default Settings Changes

Control Bindings are now organized into three presets – “Default”, “Legacy”, and “Custom”
- “Legacy” is used for all existing accounts, and uses the same controls since our 2015 Launch
- “Default” assigns “Air Roll” to L2/LT by default, and unbinds “Voice Chat”
- You can switch to “Default” or “Legacy” without losing your “Custom” bindings
Voice Chat is now disabled by default

New Hitbox

Added a new Vehicle Preset based on the Merc car
This hitbox is both taller and narrower than the other hitboxes. Check it out and let us know what you think!

New Quick Chats

Informational Quick Chats
- Bumping!
- Faking.
- On your left.
- On your right.
- Passing!
Compliment Quick Chats
- Nice Bump!
- Nice Demo!

Keyboard Aerial Safety

The new “Keyboard Aerial Safety” setting prevents keyboard and mouse players from pitching down in the air while holding Throttle (W) until other inputs are recognized
With this setting active, your car will not begin pitching down until you either pitch up, release the throttle/pitch down key, or air roll in any direction
This setting can be disabled in the Options – Controls tab

General

[PC] DirectX9 is no longer supported
The Level 700 ‘Supersonic Legend’ Title has been changed to ‘Legendary Nemesis’
Heatseeker is now available in Private and Local Matches
The Solo Standard Competitive Playlist is no longer available

BUG FIXES

Fixed a bug preventing offending chat text from being displayed when an account is banned
Additional performance optimizations made to the Gravity Bomb Goal Explosion
Rebooting the game will no longer put the player on their oldest Car Preset
Tournament creators can spectate matches after leaving the tournament as a player