Dodgeball PvP Game Knockout City Going Free-to-Play This Spring

Knockout City launched with a permanent free trial back in May of last year, and while that was enough to generate initial interest, it doesn't look like the dodgeball-inspired title has stuck with as many players as developer Velan Studios or publisher Electronic Arts would have liked. Today it was announced that the game would be going fully free-to-play in the spring, and EA will be knocking itself out of the ring, with Velan Studios taking over publishing duties.

Season 5 of Knockout City will wrap up the first year of the game, and when Season 6 goes live -- some time after the game's May 21 anniversary date -- the game will go free-to-play. Previous purchasers will receive a loyalty bundle consisting of legendary cosmetics, XP boosts, and 2,000 Holobux.

The dev team "is all-hands-on-deck" to implement the changeover, which means that Season 5 will be a little lighter on content than usual, with no new Brawl Pass and fewer cosmetics. As a celebration of the first year of the game, modes such as Superpowers!, Chain Reaction, and Basketbrawl will return, along with a brand-new event and "some surprises in store, too."

As for the publishing change, Velan Studios said it "couldn’t have introduced Knockout City to the world without the incredible support of EA Originals" but the F2P switch will allow it "to fully realize our vision for the long-term future of this game."