A Psyonix developer has responded to criticism regarding Rocket League’s new UI changes, defending them as necessary for new players.
Psyonix’s Rocket League has received nothing short of acclaim since its 2015 release, with many of its fans praising the simplicity of the game, as well as its fast pace.
However, Psyonix have recently found themselves amid some criticism for various choices. They completely overhauled Rocket League esports following sustained criticism from competitive organizations, but are now facing complaints regarding recent changes to the game’s UI.
The announcement that Rocket League would be releasing free on September 23 has been widely praised, but many long-time players have criticized the UI changes that followed the announcement.
Following the complaints from Rocket League veterans, a Psyonix developer responded via Reddit, explaining that the UI changes were made to make the game more intuitive and easy to understand for new players.
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Corey Davis, co-studio head on Rocket League, explained that: “Our objective for a Free to Play release was to address areas of the game that could be clearer or more intuitive for new players. For the seasoned veterans that populate this subreddit, that can sometimes look like changing things that weren’t broken (from your point of view).”
He summarized the changes in three main points: “The old Play Menu Tabs weren’t great at surfacing other modes… Playlist selection being separate from ‘Start Matchmaking’ was counterintuitive for many users… Important features like Free Play Training were not exposed as part of the core “Play” loop of the game.”
He finished by explaining that changing various UI features would allow Psyonix to tackle all of the issues listed.
While the changes have been criticized by experienced players, they don’t seem to be going anywhere, particularly with the free-to-play launch likely to attract masses of new players.
