Knockout City will meet its end later this year. For as much flack as EA has rightfully gotten over the last decade, the publisher has been quietly reforming its reputation in key areas. At the start of the last generation, the publisher made an effort to lean far more into online games thinking single player games were going the way of the dodo. Once that proved to not be the case, EA went back to investing in more single-player games and has also been branching out into new IP, both story driven and online-focused. One of those great new IPs was Knockout City, a PVP dodgeball game that was both incredibly unique and super fun.
However, all good things must come to an end. After just two years on the market, Knockout City will be shutting down later this year. Developer Velan Studios took over the publishing responsibilities from EA in 2022 and has made the decision to shut down the game on June 6th, 2023 with the game’s ninth season being its last. The PC version will be getting private hosted servers to allow fans the opportunity to keep things going, but the game will become completely unplayable on June 6th for consoles. Velan is hoping to use what it has learned from this game to make a new game in the Knockout City universe, though it isn’t 100% committed to that. It is, however, committed to making more innovative games in general going forward. The game’s ninth season will include massive events, bonuses, and a big send off event for the game starting May 23rd. On February 28th, all microtransactions and paid content will be completely removed from the game as well.
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As of right now, it remains to be seen what will come of Velan Studios. Whether we get Knockout City 2 or some other kind of successor seems to be up in the air, but the studio clearly holds a lot of passion for the IP and wants to see it live on. Hopefully, we’ll find out more in the coming years as it gains some distance from its current game.
Were you a fan of Knockout City? If so, what do you think of this news? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
