Knockout City, Velan Studios’ futuristic dodgeball game, is shutting down this June.
And, since the game is online only, Knockout City will become unplayable for anyone who purchased or downloaded the game. Hang on.. purchased? Yes, because while it went free-to-play, Knockout City was originally a paid product.
So, aside from those who’ve purchased in-game content, some people will also have paid $19.99 for it when it launched in May 2021. That might not seem like a lot of money for two years year of play, but we can see it raising a few hackles.
We’re certainly a little surprised to see Velan announce Knockout City’s upcoming closure. And that’s not just because we got such a kick out of it. Sure, the last few months have seen several similar announcement, including the delisting of Marvel’s Avengers. But it was getting all sorts of content, including a crossover with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which can’t have been easy to arrange.
The game’s final season, Season 9, is set to be its last. According to Velan’s statement, it “…was an extremely difficult decision for us, but a necessary and important one for our studio.” Going by the statement, it seems Velan may have bitten off more than they could chew. It continues:
“There are several aspects of the game in need of major disruption to better attract and retain enough players to be sustainable. Since we are a small, indie studio, it’s simply impossible for us to make those kinds of systemic changes in the live game while continuing to support it.”
Velan aren’t necessarily done with Knockout City forever. But the game, in its current form, is coming to an end. There are a range of events planned to say farewell to the game, though the developer won’t be offering refunds. Nor will it be handing out TMNT skins.
But it is releasing a free player hosted Windows version, for free, so that it can still be played. Though, without Velan’s servers, getting a game could be trickier. You can find out more here. Since it’s currently free-to-play you can still grab the game on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Switch. But, come June 6th, it’s match over for Knockout City.
