Knockout City Is Going Free-to-Play, and EA Won’t Be the Publisher Anymore [IGN]

Developer Velan Studios announced in a blog post that it’s taking over and will self-publish the dodgeball combat game when it enters its second year on the market, coming into effect when the game enters Season 6 on June 1.

Knockout City Season 5, which begins on March 1, will have less content as a result of the changes: there won’t be a new Brawl Pass, new map, or new ball, and there will also be less cosmetics and bundles.

Comin’ atcha with a non-stop block of the Greatest Hits as we head into Season 5 of Knockout City! Stick around till the end, brawlers. Got a… well, let’s call it a, “bonus riff” at the end just for you. 🎧🌕 pic.twitter.com/bQd6A8b57i

— Knockout City – Season 4: Alien Invaders 👽🛸 (@knockoutcity) February 24, 2022

Velan Studios said this reduction in content would be temporary however, and things would return to normal at the beginning of Season 6.

“We’re really excited to bring our game to millions of new players around the world by removing the price tag entirely,” Velan Studios wrote in the blog post.

“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.”

In our 9/10 review, IGN said “Knockout City’s fantastic spin on dodgeball combat has surprising depth, making it one of the best team-based PvP games in years.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale.