Welcome to Knockout City!
Wow, we’re just coming up for air after an exciting launch day. We are so stoked to finally share Knockout City with the world.
In April, we had our Cross Play Beta and it really surpassed our expectations with over one million downloads and amazing feedback from our players. We knew that this is the sort of game that you have to go hands on with to really understand, and we’re so glad that everyone now has that opportunity. With our Block Party event happening now through May 30th, everyone has the opportunity to play Knockout City for FREE, no matter your platform of choice. “Playing is Believing” when it comes to this game, and we want as many people as possible to try it out and have fun.
Knockout City has been in development for over four years. In fact, the core idea of throwing and catching a ball was something that we started experimenting with shortly after we started the studio. To be honest with you, it’s the kind of idea and project that could never get greenlit at a big studio or publisher. It would sound goofy on paper or too risky to pull off — truly new concepts need to be experienced to be understood.
But that’s exactly the reason why we started Velan Studios. To bring together a veteran team of game developers who could take chances on creating something new. We wanted to find breakthrough experiences that are magic. We wanted to create a game that is Just. Pure. FUN.
We thought, “What’s a new kind of action game, where the game mechanics would feel fresh?” On the way, we discovered why nobody’s ever made an action game like this before.
Knockout City explores a fundamental new play pattern based on throwing and catching a ball as the basis of a new competitive online multiplayer game. It sounds simple. As it turns out, throwing and catching a ball over the internet was a far more difficult problem than we imagined.
It took us 18 months of prototyping to find that tricky balance between making it accessible for everyone and also super competitive with a high skill ceiling for those that aspire to be the best. The core mechanics and team based play evolved into an experience that is genre defying. It also required us to build a brand new game engine from the ground up to pull off.
To ground the game mechanics, we created a new world with a distinct style, humor, personality, and even sound of its own. On the streets of Knockout City, where Crews settle their scores through Epic dodgebrawl battles, it’s both inviting and a place where you can get your ass kicked! This is a game that’s going to be great for both casual Friday game nights with friends and high stakes tournament play.
After four years of development, the team feels like we are finally at the Starting Line. It’s the start of a live ops game that is going to evolve season to season. We’ve got so many creative ideas to try out and explore. It’s also a game that we want to evolve in collaboration with the player community. From what started out as an indie team of a dozen people is now at about 50 — the Knockout City team at Velan has put everything they had into creating a game that we are extremely proud to share with the gaming world. We are excited to embark on this journey with our community and look forward to establishing something truly unique and fun. We can’t wait to see you all in Knockout City.
Karthik and Guha
