Rocket League: Minimum level cap for competitive is being raised

Rocket League is a game that is constantly pumping out updates to not only keep the game feeling fresh, but to make sure the game is balanced as well. While these updates are intended to make the game an overall better experience for everyone that plays, these updates and decisions are not always going to make 100% of the Rocket League community happy.

Rocket League developer Psyonix announced that it will be receiving its very first update of 2024. The update is nothing over the moon, but it may affect a variety of Rocket League players.

The Minimum Competitive Rocket League Level Cap is being increased

If you are an avid player of Rocket League and have been playing for a long time now like a majority of the community, this update won't really have much affect on you. If you are somewhat new to the Rocket League action, there is a greater chance you are affected by this news.

When Epic Games acquired Rocket League back in 2020, a minimum competitive level cap was added into the game to make sure that the really great competitive players weren't making more than one account so that they can dominate the players who weren't of the same skill level. This action is often referred to as "Smurfing."

Smurfing happens in Rocket League a lot and Psyonix frowns upon such behavior because it doesn't give players of all skill levels a fair chance of playing against someone of their own skill level. Because of this, Psyonix added a minimum level cap of 10 to play in online competitive games. This means that you currently have to at least be level 10 to play in competitive games. However, that level will be increased the next time you decide to play Rocket League.

When the new Rocket League update goes live on Feb. 6, the minimum competitive level cap will be increased from 10 to 20. While this action will help decrease the number of players playing on more than one account, it will also limit the legit new players who want to jump into a competitive game with a couple of their friends.

This new level cap will require that every player in the Rocket League party to at least hit the minimum level cap of 20 to play in competitive. If one play doesn't reach that minimum, you won't be able to queue for a new game.

If you are an actual new player to Rocket League, this news may kind of stink. On the other hand, getting to level 20 won't be super hard and shouldn't take you too long. It is more time consuming than difficult, but it also prevents more Smurfing in the future.

With the increased level cap, it will prevent a Grand Champion or Super Sonic Legend from creating a second account and getting into games against Silver and Gold players. Obviously, the hopes in increasing the level cap is to make sure there is a better experience for players of all skill levels.

Even though this update is only going to affect a small portion of the Rocket League community, it is a very important one. The less Smurfing that takes place in Rocket League, the more competitive your experience will be.