Some changes are coming to Knockout City - with developer Velan Studios announcing the game will be dropping the "price tag entirely" and going free-to-play as of Season 6.
In the same announcement, the studio also revealed how it would be taking over EA's responsibilities as the game's publisher under this new model. Velan also used the opportunity to thank the EA Originals label for the support and for introducing the game to the world.
Velan believes taking over publishing responsibilities will allow it to work closer with the game's community and "fully realize" its vision of the game over the long-term:
"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."
The team will be sharing more about Knockout City's move to F2P over the coming days, weeks, and months. How do you feel about this announcement? Will you try out this game now that it's free? Leave a comment down below.
[source ea.com]
Comments 42
I always did see this game as a FTP and when I found out it wasn't was a little odd to me...Till I saw it was Ea. Plus and spending money on a game on top of BP is a bit much, so this news makes me happy.
I guess now I'll finally give it a shot, haha.
Hopefully these publishers follow the same route as Epic Games and provide some form of recognition or bonus content to those who paid for this game.
It should of been F2P in the first place!
Now I know why people can’t stand EA.
This game should've been F2P from the start honestly
Tbh all seasonal games should be F2P ideally, or they'll slowly loose players to make those seasons for, glad to hear this.
Played it a little when it first came out but seemed more chaos based than any skill. Wasn't too bad though so I'll probably try it again now it's free.
Seems shady to do to people who spent the 30 bucks or whatever it was to actually buy it a few short months ago though..but then again it is EA.
This does mean it won't require NSO to play online anymore, right?
Not really a surprise given how quickly the thing dropped in price.
Played this one for free up to level 25. Almost bought it on sale a while back and now I'm glad I didn't! Giving another go once it goes F2P!
@UglyCasanova It doesn't require NSO right now since its technically f2p on the eshop up to a certain level. I'm sure they will give bonuses to the ones who bought it but if I were one of those I'm gonna be a little disappointed for sure.
Uhhh, are the players who bought the game gonna get some kind of bonus?
Edit: I just realised they’re giving people who bought the game exclusive legendary cosmetics, xp boosts, and 2000 holobux, which is nice
@Octane_st1m disappointed about it becoming free? How does that make sense? If it does become free, a lot more people will definitely get the game and so you can expect the lobbies to be a lot more active which means that those who bothered to buy the game will THEN get their monies worth because there will be a plentiful supply of people to play against, instead of waiting for long periods to get a match. There are many fighting/online games that I have bought or want to buy but empty lobbies ruin the experience. If they made them free so many more people come online, I will be glad.
It makes sense for this game to be free as it already uses the f2p 'seasons' model. I played the free trial and it was fun so I'll probably download it again now.
This happened with Rocket league, I paid real money for something they decided to give people for free. It sucks even harder than the third parties discounting their games shortly after release.
I paid for that game god damn it
@Alztru agree with you on the player base argument. Unfortunately there are still many who reject the f2p model. Sometimes simply giving cosmetic bonuses to those who paid ain't gonna cut it.
Bought this game on a whim when it was on sale last xmas, honestly I still haven’t gotten around to playing it.
Believe it or not, this is one of the best games on Switch. It’s incredibly addictive and satisfying. When you really learn how to play, it becomes fast-paced strategic warfare. It is disappointing that I paid full price and now they’re doing this but I’ll forgive them if we’re given some exclusives. Wink wink.
@Octane_st1m
You’re right. It’s tricky for me since I’ve been playing this since day one but I loath f2p. This and Rocket League (which did the same thing) will be my only f2p games.
@Octane_st1m I think it basically depends on how soon after it came out that it became f2p, and also how quickly the lobbies start becoming quite inactive. If I bought Rocket League a year or even 6months ago and found that after a while it was getting really difficult to find anyone to play against online and then it gets announced that the game is going to be f2p, that would be great news to me because it is extremely annoying to me to have a great or fun multiplayer game with few or no people to play against. I no longer play SF 20th Anniversary and quite a few other games with online play that I own and like because of this reason. People are different though so I can understand that not everyone sees it that way.
Any kickback for those that bought it...?
only played the beta they had for it was fun very luck based but still it was a fun little game
I played the free trial and it was a blast. I'm excited that it will be F2P.
I thought this game was always free to play. Maybe because my mind grouped it with Ninjala.
I'm still kinda salty that the characters featured in the original ad are nowhere to be found in the game. Princess Charm was a great idea that was wasted on a short ad. Besides that, a mashup of different video game characters/styles (FPS soldier guy, orc guy, sci-fi chick, and pixel princess) would've been sick.
@Snatcher
Knockout City have been free almost all the time.
It were on PSN+, Free on Amazon Prime Gaming and were included on Game Pass for PC and Xbox.
The only system it ever costed money on were Switch.
@CodyMKW It's a skill based game, so luck is not needed.
If you based it on luck, you would probably lose all matches.
@MeloMan Yes. You get 2000 free Holobux and some other things.
Everyone who buy the game today will also get the same.
Season 6 won't start until it goes F2P which sucks.
At least there will be a bunch of weekly contracts where you still unlock free stuff.
I play Knockout City every day of the week on PC.. 1440p/165hz + Xbox 360 Gamepad.
I'm level 405 and have played over 1000 matches.
@BaronMunchausen Knockout City is one of the best arena games ever made since Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament 1999.
Good news for those who paid for it. You get 2000 Holobux and some other things.
@Moonlessky You should play it ASAP. Do all the tutorials first as they are very good at explaining how to play it.
Tutorial also shows you how to curve, lob, charge, catch etc, but also how each ball type works.
The main hideout of the game is a social area where you and friends can just mess around, or train against each other, or even play private matches.
Every day European time at 13:00, there is new daily contracts which makes you level up way faster.
Every time you level up, you get a costume, emote, holobux or something else.
In Game shop also updates daily.
Weekly contracts is new 13:00 every Tuesday.
You can add friends on Switch from PC, Xbox and PS.
KOC also supports cross-save. You can resume same save on PC and other consoles.
@ModdedInkling They already announced it. You get 2000 Holobux and some other things.
About Velan..
The developer of Knockout City were hired by Nintendo to make Mario Kart Live.
Mario Kart Live and Knockout City is the only games they ever made.
@Ventilator I played the beta it's all luck and no skill what are you talking about 😝
@Rachel_NES Yeah, but you get used to it.
@Ventilator
Good to hear others feel the same way! I totally agree. It’s one of those games I simply cannot stop playing. And thanks for the heads up.
@BaronMunchausen No problem. Daily KOC update started right now so time to do the daily contracts again.
I played it daily for months, and played over 1000 matches.
I'm in a proper crew, so there is action all the time as everyone know what to do at all times.
"Pass the ball" all the time to keep it charged is the most important thing perhaps.
With public matchmaking, there is sadly some who think KOC is a single player game and it's much harder to win matches then.
Uncharged balls is actually the most scary balls. You can throw them right down while flying.
@Ventilator
Got room in your crew? Mine kinda sucks…
@BaronMunchausen I think there might be room.
You can find me as: V3nti1ator
Crew: Czech Masters
I have been in several crews earlier with great players, but i have rarely seen them online.
Current crew usually do all weekly contracts and some play every day.
@Ventilator
I’ll look for it; thanks. I’m Baron.
Same with my past crews.
BOUT TIME. Should've been ftp from the begining. Finally can try it. Woot.
@Ventilator yea not really they are too ugly nobody wants to pay for that junk
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