Velan Studios says it “still loves Knockout City as much as you do” and hopes to “bring it back” one day

Velan Studios may have shut down its competitive dodgerawl game Knockout City a year ago, but the company “still loves that world and can’t imagine not returning to it at some point.”

In an update that focused primarily on the reveal of the Midnight Murder Club – described as a mix of “hide-and-seek in the dark with shooter gameplay that makes for a really exciting playground” – and the new VR pinball game Bounce Arcade, Velan founders Karthik and Guha Bala stressed that they “still love Knockout City as much as you do and want to bring it back.”

“We know some of you are waiting for the return of Knockout City and are disappointed that we didn’t announce any news about it this week,” the brothers said.

“As an indie studio, we love our ability to embrace ideas that excite us, and rest assured that we love (Knockout) City as much as you do and want to bring it back, *just not yet*.

“We spent over four years developing Knockout City the first time around, and we don’t want to rush the process for the next game in this universe,” the statement continued. “We love this world and can’t imagine not returning there at some point when the time is right.”

Knockout City, the free-to-play Dodgebrawl game, will be discontinued in June 2024.

“This was an extremely difficult decision for us, but a necessary and important one for our studio,” said Jeremy Russo, game director at developer Velan Studios, at the time.

It was initially released under the EA Originals label for PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC last May, but just months after release, Velan announced that it would take over publishing duties and switch to a free-to-play model.