Rocket League dev promises swift fix for stroke-inducing lights in a new patch

Rocket League Season 2 cars
(Image credit: Psyonix)

Rocket League's latest arena addition, Neon Fields, has come under fire for inducing a seizure in a player, and developer Psyonix is pleading to fix the issue in a new update.

Earlier this week, The Loadout reported that a player had experienced a seizure while playing Rocket League's new Neon Fields arena. The new arena itself bombards the player with a haze of strobe lights, and it's this pattern that reportedly induced a seizure within the player.

Yesterday on January 26, Rocket League developer Psyonix promised a swift fix to the issue. In a blog post on the official Rocket League website, the developer revealed that an incoming patch, launching on February 1, would allow players to toggle the light settings on the Neon Fields arena, disabling the pulsing effects, flashing lights, the brightness and intensity of background lights, and more.

"Based on recent player feedback, we've become aware that the effects and lighting in Neon Fields can negatively impact the game experience for some players," the blog post from Psyonix reads. "To ensure that Rocket League remains enjoyable for all players, we're adding a new settings option called "Effect Intensity" that adjusts the intensity and motion of visuals for this Arena."

Late last year in December 2020, Cyberpunk 2077 was similarly criticized for inducing a seizure in a player through strobe lighting effects. CD Project apologized, and swiftly added a new "risk of seizure" warning at the outset of the game. Shortly after, Microsoft confirmed to us that they were looking to "improve our certification process" following criticism that the strobe lighting effects were allowed to pass through certification with no critiques.

For everything you need to know about rising up the ranks as quickly as possible in Rocket League's competitive mode, you can check out our full Rocket League Rankings guide for more.

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.

Latest in Action
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin's Creed Shadows will take upwards of 80 hours for completionists, creative director confirms, and Ubisoft is considering adding New Game+ post launch
Monster Hunter Wilds trailer screenshot showing a young woman with long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail smiling slightly, pumping her left fist in the air
Monster Hunter Wilds' worst feature is its "ridiculously poorly built UI," according to fans of the new action RPG – but there's already "a mod that fixes that"
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing female protagonist Naoe
I figured Assassin's Creed Shadows' Red Bull collab would just be some naff cosmetics, but it's actually a pair of surprisingly useful gameplay boons for Naoe and Yasuke
Fighting side-scrolling opponents in Absolum
Street of Rage 4's developer returns with Absolum – a fantasy flavored beat 'em up with a Hades twist
John Cena stares evilly while embracing Cody Rhodes
"We got heel Cena before GTA 6": Even John Cena himself is comparing the 20-year wait for his WWE heel turn to the 12-year wait for the next Grand Theft Auto
Two characters pointing at the camera in LA Noire
GTA developer Rockstar opens new Australian branch by acquiring the studio that's been working on its ports for "this past decade"
Latest in News
Urban Dead
Cult text-based zombie MMO Urban Dead is shutting down after "a full 19 years, 8 months and 11 days" because of new UK legislation
PS5 30th Anniversary collection on a blue background
Echoing Xbox and Steam, PlayStation rolls out a beta program where you sign up to "test participating games for the PS5 console and PC" plus new features
One of the new Vault Hunters in Borderlands 4
"Don’t gaslight me": Borderlands 4 CEO Randy Pitchford begs fans to be optimistic about the upcoming FPS, otherwise "we'll all pay the price"
MobLand
First trailer for Guy Ritchie’s new crime drama sees Tom Hardy and Pierce Brosnan rule a brutal mafia empire
Ncuti Gatwa in Doctor Who season 2
Doctor Who fans think they've spotted a tease for surprise villains in new season 2 trailer
Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 has an endgame problem, but a developer assures us "things are coming," they just can't say what yet because otherwise our expectations will be too high