Knockout City, the PvP dodgeball game, will be shutting down on June 6th, as revealed by Velan Studios in a recent blog post. The game, which has over 12 million players and billions of KOs, will no longer be playable, except for a PC-only private server version. In the blog post, Velan Studios addressed the community and explained the reason behind the difficult decision.
Why is Knockout City Shutting Down?
The game has faced several challenges since its release, with the team at Velan Studios acknowledging the difficulties in creating a unique game with no points of comparison and running live services for the first time. Despite its success, there were several aspects of the game that required major changes to better attract and retain players, but being a small, indie studio, it was impossible to make the changes while continuing to support the game.
Step Back to Innovate As a result
Velan Studios has decided to take a step back and pave the way for innovation. They will be taking everything they learned from Knockout City, including feedback from the community and analytics data, to explore new possibilities for the game and other products they are working on. The team is currently undergoing a comprehensive retrospective of every aspect of the game, including development processes, to ensure that they do not repeat past mistakes.
Conclusion While
it is sad news for fans of the game, Velan Studios has assured the community that the private server version will allow the game to “live on forever.” The shutdown of Knockout City is a necessary step for the studio to move forward and innovate, and the team is excited to explore new possibilities for the game and other products.