Developer Velan Studios has announced that its player-versus-player dodgeball game Knockout City will be shutting down on June 6, just two years after its initial launch. Once public servers for Knockout City are removed, the game will no longer be playable except for private servers on the PC version.
“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 Studios explained in its blog post.
“So it became clear to us that we needed to take a step back and pave the way for Velan to do what we do best by innovating. While we can’t promise that Knockout City will be back, what we can promise is that you’ll continue to see new and innovative games from Velan Studios that will surprise and delight players around the world.”
Velan Studios has decided to stop its support for Knockout City in order to pursue new opportunities. Knockout City will remain playable until the final event in Season 9 is over. Players will no longer be able to buy Holobux (the game’s currency), or any other paid content when patch 9 launches on February 28.
Season 9 will be adding new content to keep the remainder of the player base occupied, including events, brawl pass, deep space dispatches, maps, and all-new cosmetics. Players will still be able to earn Holobux in order to purchase the now-discounted bundles.
The private version of Knockout City will be available to download for PC players in the coming months. As it won’t be connected to the live game, no progress will be carried over from that version. Knockout City shuts down on June 6.