Cognition Dissemination: Velan Studios are Real Ones

There’s too long a list of multiplayer live service games that simply didn’t take off with the gaming market, in another sure sign that too much competition for the audience’s attention is a net negative. Knockout City is among them, despite its unique twist. It’s a competitive multiplayer action game with a colorful art style developed by Velan Studios and originally published by EA under their “EA Originals” line. It’s essentially a very flashy and sprawling game of dodgeball, in which teams compete to hit those on the opposition with the ball a set number of times. The game also includes the twist of having multiple balls that either enhance the abilities of those holding it, or add an extra risk by making the ball a timebomb.

The game received stellar reviews after its debut as a free-to-play title on both EA Origin and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, until players reached a certain level. It remarkably attracted two million players in the first week. . The question, of course, was whether that audience stuck around, for either the microtransactions or to continue playing after reaching level 25. It didn’t help that EA gave it the usual advertisement treatment reserved for EA Originals. You’d be forgiven if you didn’t know what this game entailed, unless you watched Nintendo Directs.

Knockout City’s fortunes appeared to turn around after publishing duties were reverted to Velan Studios themselves. Because of this, however, the servers were moved from EA’s Origin to Epic Games’ Online Service. This could have been a winning move if this received even minor audience crossover with Fortnite, considering the art style was slightly inspired by that game’s, with a little Overwatch mixed in for its cartoonish (in a largely good way) aesthetic. This unfortunately also didn’t work out, with the game being shut down in June 2023. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collaboration couldn’t save it either, though it probably helped.

Well, it didn’t entirely work out. The importance of Knockout City has shined through the twist in how only the main servers have been shut down. The game hasn’t been thrown into the void like other live service and multiplayer titles that didn’t take off, but has been preserved by a publisher who clearly cared about letting the audience they cultivated continue to play. It’s, of course, also a great way to expand the audience to attract those who were curious or have friends who continue to enjoy the game thanks to it now being free to download on PC. The game is surviving through private servers, where groups of friends and online players who’ve met each other through internet communities continue to play matches.

The need to preserve titles is why Velan Studios’ director of marketing Josh Harrison discussed the process of the game’s sunsetting at last week’s Game Developers Conference. It’s one matter that Harrison recommended how the end of life for a live service game should be very public was one matter, along with the anecdote that Velan recorded different videos announcing the game’s end on the major level in case the news leaked beforehand — which it did. But he also elaborated on why developers and publishers should actively pursue launching free private versions after support has ended, according to PCGamer:

“There are small but mighty communities that are still going, built around this private server months after shutdown by playing games daily, hosting their own tournaments where they’re raising their own prize pools, and more.”

He continued by discussing how dedicated community members can add their own nifty features for friends and others still playing. “One community member even built a launcher that makes it easier to get into private servers as well as see a private server list of active player counts,” he said. From the comments I’ve seen, several players have discussed how great it is to play private matches in Knockout City and in other games. They’ve added their own twists or unique sounds without worrying about fighting other more burdensome players or a publisher that’s too controlling.

Harrison acknowledged how several developers simply won’t have the resources to allocate to create the free and privately-played versions, though he still recommends it. Another issue will involve how free-to-play live service games based on licenses simply can’t be preserved in this way. When Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leage dies, which might come sooner rather than later considering its performance on the market, it’s unlikely that Rocksteady Studios will even have the option to release a free version if they want to. This will be thanks to licensing issues, despite Rocksteady and DC all being under Warner Bros. Discovery. The future titles WBD plans to pursue despite prior failures will run into the same issue, including the future Hogwarts title they work on. Of course, a company like WBD won’t care about preservation in the first place with the way it’s being run now.

There’s also the issue of publishers simply thinking this isn’t worth it if they aren’t making money from it. There’s no way that Blizzard will do this with Overwatch, for example.

When they have the option, developers should absolutely take Harrison’s advice. It’s good when the team is concerned with game preservation, and acknowledges how a remaining audience would love to continue playing certain games after their support has ended. Velan Studios has shown how it should be done. There are still several more live service games coming, and not all of them will be successful, to put it lightly. Here is the guide. It’s up to licensing or willpower from developers who could otherwise afford to do it.