Knockout City Is Going Free-To-Play, Velan Studios Saying Goodbye To EA To Self-Publish Future Content

Knockout, the EA Originals Dodgeball game that Velan Studios developed, will be available for free with Year 2. 

This news comes by way of a new post by Velan on EA’s Knockout City page. In it, the studio reveals that following the conclusion of the current Season 5, Season 6 will kick off Year 2, which will in turn kick off the game’s transition into a free-to-play title. What’s more is that Velan will be saying goodbye to its publishing partner, EA, to self-publish future content for the title. 

“[After] Season 5 is over, we’re going to be kicking off Year 2 of Knockout City, and it comes with one huge headline to mix things up: Knockout City is going free-to-play, beginning this spring with Season 6,” Velan writes. “We’re really excited to bring our game to millions of new players around the world, by removing the price tag entirely. 

We want to say thank you to our first fans who purchased Knockout City. They have been with us since the beginning. Your dedication and loyalty motivates us everyday to continue to build our world, and we couldn’t have gotten this far without you. Our first priority will always be our community, and we’ve built a special Season 6 Loyalty Bundle specifically for those who have already purchased the game before Season 6 launches that’ll include exclusive legendary cosmetics, XP boosts, and 2000 Holobux.”

Velan studios, starting with Season 6, will be publishing Knockout City’s content. 

“From the day we founded our studio, we’ve worked to deliver revolutionary new game experiences to you, our amazing community of players,” Velan writes. “We couldn’t have introduced Knockout City to the world without the incredible support of EA Originals, but now as we switch to free-to-play, the natural next step is for us to take over publishing responsibilities and work even more closely with our community. We have exciting plans for Knockout City, and bringing publishing in-house will allow us to fully realize our vision for the long-term future of this game.”

Velan claims that Season 5 will have less content than previous seasons due to all the work Velan did to bring publishing in-house. There won’t be a new Brawl Pass for Season 5, and there will be fewer bundles and cosmetics for the overall season. Plus, there won’t be a new map or ball. Velan states that the shift in content is temporary. Season 6 will still launch with all of the regular content. 

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