Rocket League's new leveling and XP system is now live

Psyonix has rolled out a major "Progression Update" for Rocket League that completely revamps the game's progression system (hence the title) and eliminates the level cap. The update also adds a new "Clubs System," new achievements and trophies, and makes numerous "quality of life" improvements as well. 

The update, teased in June, changes how experience is awarded—it can now only be earned in Online Casual and Competitive Matches, and will be based primarily on match length rather than score—and how levels are gained. Instead of it "taking progressively longer to earn" levels past 20, successive levels will require a flat amount of XP, and the cap at level 75 is gone as well, so you can climb as high as you want. 

Existing levels will be converted to the new system based on factors including the total number of online matches played and total XP earned. Players at or below level 40 should end up with roughly the same level they had previously, while those above 40 will end up at a higher level. Players who have already hit the level cap will be granted extra levels based on the number of online matches they've played. 

Rocket League Clubs will support rosters of up to 20 players, and Club names will not be unique, meaning that you could have two clubs named, for instance, the Roughriders. Club tags of 2-4 characters will appear before user names on banners and scoreboards, and those won't be unique either, which strikes me as more potentially troublesome, since tags are immediately visible during matches and on leaderboards than full team names. 

However, there is a "Verified" option for Club names and tags that will ensure they're unique among other verified clubs—so while you might have two (or 27) Roughriders, only one will ever be verified as the real deal. Club colors, matches, "Message of the Day," and other features are also supported. 

The Rocket Pass, a secondary progression system that awards progressively rarer cosmetic items as players progress through tiers, was announced back in June. That will go live next week. The full patch notes for the Progression Update are up at rocketleague.com

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.