In a blog post today, Velan Studios announced that its "dodgebrawl" game, Knockout City, will not only be going free-to-play later this year, but it would be taking over publishing duties from EA Originals. The studio said that removing the cost of entry would allow it to bring Knockout City to "millions of new players around the world."
When the game first launched in May 2021 it was free to play until the end of that first month. In June Velan doubled down and allowed new players to level up to Street Rank 25 before purchasing the game. It was also offered via Game Pass on launch day back in May 2021 and was also made available on PlayStation Plus in November of last year.
Knockout City will go completely free-to-play beginning this spring with Season 6. Velan went on to thank the dedication and loyalty of day one fans and all players of Knockout City who purchased the game through its first year of existence. It reassured the community that those who have already plunked down hard-earned money for its game will receive a special Loyalty Bundle just before Season 6 launches that will include exclusive legendary cosmetics, XP boosts, and 2,000 Holobux.
According to Velan Studios, Season 6 will have a plethora of new features, new maps, and a Special Ball. Players will have to wait until Velan is ready to release details on exactly what that special ball will do though.
But that's not all the big changes for the makers of Knockout City. In its blog post, Velan confirmed that as the first few seasons of Year 2 roll along, it will be taking over publishing duties from Electronic Arts Originals. Velan thanked EA, saying it would not have been able to bring the game to the world without its support, and by moving to a self-publishing mode it will help the studio "fully realize" its internal vision for the game.
With Knockout City's one-year anniversary approaching, Velan Studios has diligently released an abundance of new features that includes 32 different Playlists, nine different maps, six Special Balls (plus the Snowball from Snowbrawl Fight), and over 1,200 customizations.
As the studio preps to transform one of the best multiplayer games of 2021 to a free-to-play model as well as taking on the responsibility of self-publishing, it shouldn't come as a shock that a new season will contain less content. Season 5, which is set to launch on March 1, is labeled as a "Greatest Hits" celebration of the best of Knockout City's first year. It brings back features seen in previous seasons, such as Superpowers, Chain Reaction, and Basketbrawl, but will include some new customizations, a brand-new special event with exclusive unlockables, and a new season of League Play. It won't have a new Brawl Pass, map, or ball.
Velan Studios promised that the content reduction is only temporary and development will return to normal with the beginning of Season 6.
Knockout City is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Velan Studios