Knockout City is shutting down on June 6, 2023

Velan Studios has announced that its free-to-play "dodgebrawl" game will be shutting down, with the game’s ninth season being its last.

The details:

• Velan Studios, the game's developer and publisher, announced in a blog post on February 3 that after Season 9, the game's official services will be shut down, bringing the game's two-year run to an end. The studio did, however, confirm that a standalone Windows version of the game will be released, allowing players to host their own games and keep Knockout City playable "for eternity.”
• The final season will begin on February 28 and will last 12 weeks. Players will be treated to six events, new cosmetics, "fresh new twists" on fan-favorite playlists, and a new map during the season, which is surprising for a game that will end service so soon after the content is released. Furthermore, all microtransactions will be removed, with the developers opting to provide more rewards, such as "thousands of holobux" inside upcoming events. The in-game store will also sell "almost every cosmetic" that has been available in the past at heavily discounted prices.
• Knockout City was released in May 2021 under publisher Electronic Arts (EA) to positive reception from both critics and players, resulting in a nomination for best multiplayer game at The Game Awards. Originally a paid title, the game was converted to a free-to-play model in 2022, with Velan Studios taking over publishing rights from EA.

Other recent game closures and cancellations in gaming:

• Respawn Entertainment recently announced that Apex Legends Mobile would be discontinued on May 1, 2023, just one year after its release. Despite positive reviews at the time of release, the game's popularity began to plummet at an alarming rate, with existing players becoming increasingly agitated due to a lack of updates and communication regarding the game's content and bugs. It is no longer available for download, and all in-game purchases have been disabled as of February 1.
• Another Respawn project, Titanfall Legends, has reportedly been canceled. The cancellation of the single-player entry has resulted in the layoff of approximately 50 studio employees, with EA aiming to find them another job within the company or provide a severance package when they are laid off. The project was allegedly a Titanfall campaign within Apex Legends, with characters Blisk and BT from the second game returning.
• Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, Square Enix's mobile battle royale, was shut down on January 11. The studio stated that it did not "deliver the experience they were hoping for," leading to its closure a year after its initial release. The game itself was not well received by fans, with many claiming that bots infested the multiplayer title from the start, blaming the failure on the mobile-only release model.