Some Rocket League Cosmetics, Like the Mario Cars, Can't Move Between Platforms

When Rocket League goes free-to-play later this summer, it'll also be inching ever closer to Epic's model for Fortnite Battle Royale. The high flying car esport will also gain cross-platform progression by way of Epic Games accounts, but there are several catches: as with Fortnite's V-Bucks, Rocket League's currencies will remain tied to the platforms players got them on. Along with that, any branded or exclusive item will stay put.

Psyonix explains how Rocket League's progression will work in a new blog post. The upshot is that any cosmetics solely related to Rocket League—rewards, free drops, blueprints, Rocket Pass items, and so on—will be available for use across PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, or Xbox One. While player rank and Rocket Pass progress will be determined by a user's "Primary Platform," the shared inventory will consider all progress. For example, if your Switch account's the primary but you only completed a given Rocket Pass on PC, those items will still become available to use on Switch.

Everything tied to a non-Rocket League brand isn't moving. Things like the Switch-exclusive Mario, Luigi, and Samus cars plus premium DLC offerings like the Fast and Furious cars or the Back to the Future DeLorean will still be usable on the platforms players got them on, but won't join the shared inventory.

This isn't too surprising of a move considering all the various copyright and ownership concerns bound up both in releasing tie-in cosmetics and in releasing any sort of DLC, generally. Already, exclusives like the Mario and Luigi cars wouldn't show up in cross-play for Rocket League players on other platforms, instead displaying as standard cars. Still, when it goes free-to-play, every current player will be gifted all the extant Rocket League-branded DLC for free, so there's at least that silver lining.

Psyonix still hasn't set a date for the free-to-play launch yet, but it's worth remembering that when it happens, Rocket League will leave the Steam storefront. Something to keep in mind if you don't want to start an Epic account just to play it on PC—but then again, you'd be paying for the privilege and those "Legacy" cosmetics if you don't want to just wait for the free-to-play launch.