Knockout City, the “dodgebrawl” game from Velan Studios, is coming to a close this June after launching in May 2021. The game didn’t have the long life its developer was hoping for. But what went wrong?
Co-founder Guha Bala told GI.biz that Knockout City hit the ground running with marketing support from publisher EA, solid sales, and a surge in players thanks to its inclusion with Xbox Game Pass. However, a “mid-price premium” business model was “pretty uncommon” for a multiplayer-only title like Knockout City, with many similar titles adopting a free-to-play model instead, Bala said. Knockout City was priced at $20 before it later changed business models.
“So the competitive environment changed for pricing. It sold fairly well but not well enough to as a mid-price premium title to continue to support an additional flow of content,” the developer explained.