The dodgeball multiplayer game Knockout City is going free-to-play later this year, shortly after the end of its upcoming fifth season of content.
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In a blog post on the Knockout City section of Electronic Art’s website, developer Velan Studios showed off the upcoming Season 5 of Knockout City, which is titled “Greatest Hits.” The new season will celebrate the first year of Knockout City ahead of its official anniversary in the summer. The fifth season of Knockout City will provide new customization options, a brand-new special event, a new season of league play, and more.
While Season 5 is on the horizon for Knockout City, Velan Studios confirmed that Knockout City would be going free-to-play beginning with Season 6. Velan will be self-publishing the game for all Year 2 content and moving forward.
Because of the change, however, Velan did note that Season 5 of Knockout City will have less content in it than normal. There will be no new Brawl Pass for Season 5, and fewer bundles and cosmetics will also be released in that time. But things should pick back up once Season 6 starts when a new Brawl Pass, cosmetics, and “new features” are set to be introduced. It is also expected to do away with the EA login needed for cross-platform play during this time.
For those who have already purchased Knockout City, a special Season 6 Loyalty Bundle will be available at the start of the season, and will include exclusive legendary cosmetics, XP boosts, and 2,000 Holobux.
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“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,” reads the statement. “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. There’s so much to look forward to, because this is just the beginning.”
Knockout City had already been inching toward the free-to-play model for some time. The game launched on EA Play and Xbox Game Pass and then quickly allowed everyone on every system to play for free until level 25, which takes more than a few hours. It was then included in the November 2021 PlayStation Plus lineup, allowing PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 users to also grab the game for no additional cost.
