Rocket League‘s recent move to a free-to-play model has been fairly smooth, mainly because the in-game economy was established before Epic and Psyonix pulled the trigger. At the heart of the economy is Rocket League‘s in-game currency, simply called “credits.” You can use credits to purchase cosmetic items like a player banner or a rocket trail, as well as blueprints for unlocking other items. Here, we’re going to show you how to get credits in Rocket League, both from the in-game store and for free using external trading platforms.
Further reading
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- The best games to play with friends online
- Every cross-platform game currently available
How to get credits in Rocket League
Unlike a lot of free-to-play games, you can’t earn Rocket League credits simply by playing. Instead, you’ll need to get them through the store, but there are a few ways to go about it.
The first is to buy your credits outright. Each credit is equivalent to $0.01, so 500 credits runs $5. You can purchase 500, 1,100, 3,000, or 6,500 Rocket League credits for $5, $10, $25, or $50, respectively. The more expensive bundles still have the same base value per credit, just with a little extra thrown in.
There are other ways to earn credits, but buying them outright is usually the best option. Rocket League‘s in-game economy isn’t quite as balanced toward the player as games like Call of Duty: Warzone and Magic the Gathering: Arena, so the next two ways to get credits, although viable, are both net negatives when it comes to the credits you have.
Outside of buying them, you can also earn credits through the Rocket Pass, Rocket League’s version of a battle pass. The Rocket Pass costs 1,000 credits, or $10, and it will reward you with cosmetic items, XP boost tokens, and credits as you rank up. You’ll earn 100 credits every 12 tiers up to tier 60. After that, you’ll earn 100 more credits at tier 67 before the Rocket Pass tops out at tier 70.
Some basic arithmetic shows that the Rocket Pass only returns 600 credits for the 1,000 credit investment. If there are items you want on the Rocket Pass, then this is a great way to get some credits back. However, if there isn’t a lot that interests you, it’s better to buy credits and save them.
Similar to the Rocket Pass, you can earn credits in Rocket League by picking up a pack. Packs cost real-world dollars instead of credits, and they come with a range of cosmetic items along with some credits. The Starter Pack, which is available to all new players, is the best deal. For $5, you’ll get an import body and rocket boost, very rare wheels and trail, a rare decal, and 500 credits.
How to get credits for free in Rocket League
There isn’t an official way to earn credits for free in Rocket League, but you can trade your way to in-game currency using an external marketplace. Don’t worry, all of the trading actually happens within Rocket League. There are just communities you can join with others looking to trade in the game. If someone offers you an external trade, it’s probably a scam.
The go-to source for Rocket League trading is Rocket League Garage. You can post trade requests on the website or app, but it’s best to join the Discord channel and post them there. You’ll receive the fastest response on Discord usually. At the time of writing, 55,402 of the 175,903 members are online, so the community is very active.
There are a few caveats to trading, however. First, you’ll need to have purchased at least 500 credits (the 500 credits included in the starter pack count). If you purchased Rocket League before the free-to-play update, you can ignore this restriction.
You can only trade with players on the same platform as you, but because Rocket League has cross-progression, you can log in to any platform to see your tradeable items. There are some items you can’t trade, including unrevealed Blueprints, items purchased from the shop, and bonus gifts. Similarly, you can’t trade credits for credits or credits for nothing. It has to be credits for an item, and only one player can offer credits.
Once you’ve found a trading partner, link up on the same platform and invite the player to your party in Rocket League. Then, select the player and choose Invite to Trade. Once both players have added their trade items and confirmed them, a countdown will begin. You can still cancel the trade during this countdown. Once it’s done, you’ll have your new items.
For credits specifically, you can trade items you find in free drops simply for playing Rocket League. To make your trade more enticing, you can trade in common items for something of a higher rarity using the trade-in system in the game, which will attract the attention of someone looking to trade credits.
Rocket League: Credits vs. e-sports tokens
There are actually two different currencies in Rocket League: Credits and e-sports tokens. Credits are used for purchasing cosmetic items through the item shop. However, there’s a section within the shop for e-sports items, which use e-sports tokens instead. These items are themed around e-sports teams in North America and Europe, such as G2, Rogue, Team Liquid, and Dignitas.
E-sports tokens have the same real-world value as credits ($0.01 per). However, the bundles you can purchase are different. You can buy 100, 600, 1,200, or 2,500 e-sports tokens for $1, $5, $10, or $20, respectively. E-sports items are cheaper than most of the rare items in the shop, so you shouldn’t need too many tokens. Unlike credits, you can’t trade for e-sports tokens.