Item

Item is a generic term for a concept that is implemented to different extents in many games of the Asphalt series. It describes a virtual entity that usually fulfils all or most of the following conditions:

• It has a graphic representation (mostly an icon) with a reference to a real-world object.
• It can be
  • bought with in-game currency or real money,
  • earned by in-game actions, for example winning races, or
  • won from random experiments like random containers ("loot boxes") or watching ads.
• It can be stored at some place in the game, mostly the inventory.
• Players can own multiple instances of it.
• It can be sold for in-game currency.

This definition distinguishes items from

• currencies which are a means of payment to buy items,
• random containers which pretend to be items but actually are sets of lottery-like random experiments that grant items.

History overview

Items were first implemented as cards that have a double function in most of the Asphalt games. Introduced as Pro Kits in the Winter Update of Asphalt 8: Airborne, they were promoted as an alternative way to upgrade vehicles, but actually were nothing but an additional currency disguised as items. A good comparison would be that of a banknote: Although cards show depictions of items like engines or vehicle parts, they are not items themselves but grant the right to acquire such an item.

As there were many different cards, the balance could not simply be displayed as a number in the top bar like other currencies, which led to the introduction of the inventory where players could browse through the cards they owned.

Blueprints, first introduced in Asphalt Street Storm Racing, are also cards and work in a similar way, except that they are needed to buy and not to upgrade a vehicle.

Over time, cards were given more properties that made them similar to items. While Asphalt 8 Pro Kits initially could only be exchanged for an intermediate currency ( Fusion Points which could only be used to buy Pro Kit Boxes that granted other cards), the 2019 Holiday Update introduced  Fusion Coins which evolved into a main currency and made cards freely tradable like other items. Cards in Asphalt 9: Legends went a similar way and became tradable for  Trade Coins, allowing players to buy other cards. Blueprints in Asphalt Street Storm Racing can be sold for the general currency  Cash.

As the item concept evolved, it was extended to other gameplay elements. Kit Boxes in Asphalt Nitro can not only grant cards but also boosters, although the latter do not appear in the player's inventory. Finally, Asphalt Street Storm Racing established the most comprehensive item system: Almost everything in the game can be stored, sold and owned in multiple instances, including customization objects like paints or decals, and even vehicles—which makes Asphalt Streetstorm the only game that allows players to own more than one vehicle of a kind.

The Showdown Update of Asphalt 8 later took over elements of the Streetstorm approach and turned boosters and free upgrades into full items that were now stored in the inventory and had a sale value.

Asphalt 9: Legends

Overview: Item availability matrix (Asphalt 9)

In Asphalt 9: Legends, only cards (comprising of Blueprints and Import Parts), Body Parts and Keys are items. All items can be sold for  Trade Coins but only cards are stored in the inventory.

Asphalt Street Storm Racing

Overview: Item availability matrix (Asphalt Streetstorm)

The Asphalt Streetstorm inventory with tabs for the different item types

Asphalt Street Storm Racing treats almost every in-game object as an item, including vehicles. Most of the storable items can be accessed via the inventory, except for

• owned vehicles which can be viewed in a separated Collection with manufacturer and class filters
• Boosts which are accessed via the balance display in the top bar.

Although Wheels have their own tab in the inventory, they can only be bought and applied directly. The existence of the tab may hint at a previously planned but never realized feature.

The following table gives an overview of how items are stored, obtained and sold:

Item	Type	Storage	Gift Boxes	Buy with	Sell for
Vehicles		Collection	✘	Cash  Diamonds  Blueprints	Cash
Blueprints		Inventory	✔	-	Cash
Paints	Specific	-	✘	Cash  Diamonds	-
	Generic – matte – metallic – non metallic	-	✘	Cash	-
	Generic – polarized – chrome – polarized-matte	Inventory	✔	-	Cash
Decals	Specific	Inventory	✔	-	Cash
	Generic	-	✘	Cash	-
Wheels		-	✘	Cash	-
Underglows	Blue	-	✘	Cash	-
	Other colors	Inventory	✔	-	Cash
Boosts		Boosts section	✔	Diamonds	-

Asphalt Xtreme

Overview: Item availability matrix (Asphalt Xtreme)

Asphalt 8: Airborne

Overview: Item availability matrix (Asphalt 8)