How Did EA Drop The Ball? - What Happened To Knockout City
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- Опубликовано: 13 окт 2021
- What happened to Knockout City?
Knockout City's initial free trial at launch succeeded in drawing in a sizable player base and attracted the attention of content creators, but this was sadly short-lived. In the months that followed, issues within the game began to arise whether it be boredom from a lack of skill expression at a high level of play to what felt like an ever-growing list of bugs.
How did a game that at one point in time looked as if could potentially take off as an esport fall out of relevancy and start spiraling into a state of decline?
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Игры
This game is still amazing to me, it’s just a good time I feel like if it was free to play it would’ve been a genuine hit
And an esport strong candidate
I saw a video about it and I wanted to try it out, until I saw it wasn’t free. It looks cool but not cool enough, ya know?
Plus the first trailer did not do it justice
Wait? It wasn't f2p? Yeah. That's where they went wrong. It's the same thing with Lawbreakers. That game was really good but died because they didn't stay f2p
That also gives you a lot of smurfs
“How did EA drop the ball?” - How did you ask this question with a straight face ?
'How they dropped the ball' is a different question from 'will they drop the ball.' The former has a million different answers that vary from game to game. The latter only has one answer which, according most of the comments I've read, is 'yes.'
It's not made by EA 🤦 they just gave Velan studio's a deal. But it's their decision to make it free to play or selling it to another company
I thought it was a pun
The real question is, "How can EA possibly drop the ball on anything they make or touch in their existence?"
Man, people really out here forgetting how great EA Sports BIG was. RIP to a real one.
@@TehCODKingz HOLY SHIT YES DUDE. SSX, Freekstyle, SHOX, Sled Storm and all the fuckin Street games. Nothing better than that
They had STARWARS and still fumbeled as much as is possible- towards the end of their deal they made a few decent games but come on its starwars you get a massive advantage from that
@@Nobody-xe9fc Tbf you're still right, since EA dropped the ball on that too, by fucking shutting down EA Big
If you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball
A moment of silence for all the solo players going against nothing but 3 Stacks
AYY THATS ME LOVE THE 3 STACKED INTINCT/TWITCH STREAMER PLAYERS TRYING HARDING LIKE A MOTHER FUCKER
Yeah me
Classic case of obvious free to play game should’ve been free to play
and then they would've "pay to winned" the shit out of this.
@@Lucas-jq2yy but they dont have to. literally couldve gone the fortnite route. i mean, the game already has a battle pass and item shop so i dont understand why it's paid
@@voss9352 Free to play could've attracted more people, true, but what if EA then demanded some monetization built into the game? Say abilities included in packs you can pay for like jumping higher or autocharging balls or bullshit. You see where I'm getting at? I don't expect EA to release a free game and go Fortnite like "yes, hopefully, people will start playing our game and surely spending money with skins like they do in fortnite"
@@Lucas-jq2yy eh ea hasnt been pay to win for awhile i think theyve learned their lesson.
@@Lucas-jq2yy EA is a big enough company to where they can get a few loses here and there, the game literally was paid and did bad so there's no point in arguing this. EA should've made this game free to play and added monetization in just like Fortnite, thats it, game was fun, should've been free.
I literally broke the meta in grade school Dodgeball by figuring out that you could squish the balls down into a flat disc and throw them Frisbee style for *way* more speed and a deceptive hit box (for lack of a better phrase) because they would re-inflate mid air making them look wonky.
The strat gradually picked ùp popularity until it got so OP it got patched out (teachers banned it).
Phlat balls were a toy ball (?) that you squished into a disc shape. Difference was, they were meant to do so! That could make for an interesting Knockout City crossover... Oh right, that’s just a new ball with two projectile modes.
no
The dodgeballs I grew up with were hard and red (1990s). Was impossible to squish em.
@@Allplussomeminus yeah they got these soft squishy foam ones now. When I was in school like 7 years ago they started using them and took away all the rubber ones.
My guy just described a physical object as a hitbox
the game is now free, until now, I no longer had ping problems. Everyday they update the game with a new game mode and vary it between days of the week. It still has enormous variety on customizable assets, and it is way faster to find games now.
The movement and sound design seriously feel so good and tailored to the game. it's a real gem
That's why it's going to last
LOL! This has to be the dumbest comment and observation ever. The “‘movement and sound design” are akin to Nintendo 64, lol. It’s nothing special and sounds like a Vegas slot machine. Nice to see you’re easily entertained.
@@EricV89 it has spongebob!! and danny phanpom!!! fun game
Man I hope Knockout City pops off again. It's a fantastic game. I don't think it has a TON of competitive potential but it's some of the most fun I've ever had in an online game.
It's doing great bro between PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox & Ps4/5 we have over 3 million brawlers & counting!!!. (: don't believe these Call of Duty heads In the comments. My crew and I play every single day.
@@xanadujones843 When I made this comment the game had 96 players at it's peak on Steam within the previous 24 hours. I love Knockout City dearly but last I checked, the game is pretty dead.
@@gedster that's steam accounts dingus. Most players have it through EA Play or GamePass. If the game had 96 players q times would be 10 mins plus.
@@gedster my crew and I play every day for multiple hours a day. Can't fool someone who is actually active
@@gedster on that same token literally TWO WEEKS after release player count across all platforms was 5 million.
this game is super fun and personally never felt like it was too shallow (but i can see why people would feel that). definitely simple to pick up, but as someone without a bunch of time to sink in to learning mechanics or grinding tech, i appreciate that lol.
the thing that stopped me from playing was the 2-3minute queue times for ranked, but there is no easy fix if nobody is playing :/
you really couldnt wait 3 minutes for a queue? lol....
@@ihavecrabs56 you really can't fully read a message and understand it? it's 3 minutes here, 4 minutes there...every time you queue.
@@damp2269 and what about it? thats literally the length of a song lol. i could understand if it was over 10 minutes but youre really gonna complain about a 4 minute queue? LOL
what do u even expect the devs to do about queue time? not like they can just make more people play the game... so if you quit over queue times, youre literally just making queue times worse for everyone else that is still playing. so congrats on being impatient.
@@ihavecrabs56 the video already addresses why the queue are long and what the devs can do to fix it. I could explain it to you but I can't understand it it for you.
@@damp2269 the queues arent long... theyre 4 minutes lol.
I learned about this game through streamers and had a blast watching them play it but never got into it myself. Shame seeing the play base dwindle, it brought a lot of people a lot of joy when it was the hottest new online multiplayer! Virtual dodgeball was an awesome idea, I hope it will be revived some day.
Its click bait bud. My crew and i play everynight theres 20 million players
I remember saying in the KC discord that this game was gonna tank if they made people pay for it, it was so much fun but I felt like it didn't have enough in terms of mechanics to warrent a cost, only thing that kept me there for as long as it did was the cosmetics and the ranked system. And incase you think I'm just talking out of my butt, I got to diamond before the game finished it's trial and I did end up buying it. It's just sad to me that the game that me and my mates sunk a ton of hours into and really had alot of fun with is just fading into obscurity. My personal take is that they NEED to go free to play, they can charge for the battlepass system for all I care, as long as people are actually playing that's all good with me!
I said the same thing but they wanted to justify the free battle passes but sadly... Not many are playing as they were the first season, me included sadly. I wanna go back to it someday as I put a lot of time in the first season.
everyone in that discord are delusional they think the game is fine the way it is now which is funny to me anyone who came in there saying the games gonna die if it doesn’t go f2p always got ganged up on by everyone including the mods
Knock Out City surprised me at how fun it is to play whether by yourself or with friends.
Despite being a free download, this game never cracked the Nintendo eshop trending page. EA couldn't do what a $10.00 calculator could do.
Weird I heard it wasn’t free
Free until level 25.
I remember when this game were reveal on Nintendo Direct. Build up was so exciting until we get to see the gameplay. Everyone disappointed very quickly.
Yeah the first reveal was pretty bad marketing. The game is really great, but I don't really understand what the marketing team was thinking
The irony that that trailer came out with such a great character design in Princess Charm, ended up making everyone disappointed with the game.
that trailer was straight up false advertising lmfaooo
@@ProxyDoug Well, the start of the trailer in general was very interesting. Like, you got this weird video game mixups from different genres for each one.
being honest when i saw the reveal and i didn't think much on it but playing it was quite fun.
I’ve been playing for months, it’s an amazing game. I still break a sweat when I’m matched against equally skilled players. EA should absolutely make it F2P.
As someone who has been playing since the first beta, most of your criticisms are totally right, and the main reasons most people left, but I feel like it might be getting better. They recently started a new game mode system, where there is one drastically changed game mode that changes every two weeks, for instance, basketbrawl, or chain reaction. And then they have a changing game mode every day, which could be a small change, like a 4v4 instead of a 3v3, or it could be massive, like an 8 person free for all with perma death and a shrinking zone. Hopefully this will help, but probably not
This game was such a great idea and had so much promise, I played it non stop the week it came out. But once you're in the higher ranks, it just bugs constantly. I couldn't hear anything, my character moved places even when i wasn't touching a controller, and the visuals were so choppy. In the end...it WAS an EA game so I don't know why we got our hopes up.
What’s crazy is he said there’s no techniques in the game but I have literally multiple techniques to throw a simple ball
I really enjoyed this game at launch. Climbed to plat in ranked and I think I have like over 40 hours played? But yeah the server issues was the main thing that pushed me to stop playing. A game with such a heavy emphasis on reaction times to catch dodgeballs if it lags it feels horrible.
I'm still obsessed with this game. It's the most fun I've ever had with an online game so I'm thankful for that.
How did EA drop the ball? It feels like that's their sole purpose of existence right now.
Interesting to hear how this game was received after launching; I only really heard people talk about it at the time of it's original trailer release (it was a great trailer) so I had no idea it has such a well received start and positive thoughts towards the actual gameplay. The game itself did look pretty fun but a lack of offline/campaign modes meant it would never be for me.
I miss Battleborn so much. I am so sad with how the life of the game ended.
For that reason I hope Knockout City doesn’t repeat that, and that the players can play and enjoy the game for many many years. I’m rooting for ya!
well for battleborn excuses they made the mistake of launching at the same time as overwatch. knockout dont really got a reason.
This game is like if Ninjala was made by EA and looked at the failed redesign of the Xbox Avatars then thought "we want this to be the character design" lol. They really should have gone for a type of celshaded look with some anime feel to it. It would have worked well visually to set itself apart.
Nah it reminds me of Brawl Busters with a more modern and polished look. I love games that look like that. The artists and designers did a fantastic job.
As a season 1 diamond in both ranked modes I don’t think price or simple mechanics were the problem. The biggest issues for me seemed to be server issues aswell as EA barely supporting or promoting the game after launch. I never heard of EA ever hosting a tournament for the game so it’s esports scene was self made and after one season was waiting up to 15 minutes to find a 1v1 which made it terrible to play or stream. While you said the skill ceiling was too low I would disagree because I found myself constantly getting better with mind games, self passing, catching and when to throw. The more you play better you get at making the right decision even if it’s simple. Sorry for the essay of a reply.
"how did a game that received so much positive reception lose its player base so quickly?"
... I have never heard of this game before this video, and I am on the internet wayyy too much.
Same here.
ok
This game would be a PERFECT f2p game. When it was out for a free trial me and my friends played the hell out of it. It just wasn't worth $20 because it's nothing I'd grind or anything. Just a fun weekend game to play with friends. The f2p model though, would help include more people which would inherently help the e-sports scene. I think they're already in the position to easily move to a pay2skin f2p model. Either that or this fun game dies on the wrong hill.
I would love to see a similar video on Spellbreak. To this day it's been the most fun and unique BR game that I've played, but it starting out as a BR is also the reason it died down. The gameplay needed a standard gamemode between two teams but it just took them too long to release one. Cheers!
Spellbreak also disappointed with that story mode.
A lot of players in the community were looking forward to it, but eventually quit.
They added a non-battle royale mode, better get back into that game...
I made a video on Knockout City dying but it was some time ago, but needless to say its still the same problem - wait time. You have to wait about 10 minutes for a match on average (better at the start of seasons or in events), which wasnt an issue at first, but was caused by people leaving cause of the servers, then people left cause of the queue time as a result of this, then more people left lengthing the queue time happening in an endless loop.
You can never separate the words "EA" and "server issues" in the same sentence.
I played it when it had the free week before full release, it was super fun, but the fact it launched that way definitely didn't help it, also didn't have any friends that seemed interested even when it was free because it was EA
It's a game which has so little depth or standout aspects like art or story, that if someone told me it was a side mini game attached to fortnite or other mildly cartoony game, I'd have believed them.
Game aside, good video content, keep it up akshon
Akshon you are 💗 keep on bringing us these hidden gems!
Perhaps more variety in environmental mechanics can make the basic gameplay loop more nuanced and stimulating. Added verticality, hazards such as bombs, sticky floors, or even themed maps. I hope this game gets more love it looks like fun.
I grinded the game pretty hard for the first week it came out and it felt like the skill ceiling was suffocating. I generally prefer playing 1v1s in games and they just don't work with KO cities core mechanics. Then that carried over to when I played the team modes.
Love this channel. Will you cover the decline of Bleeding edge?
commenting to boost this so hopefully it goes more viral and we can get more players smh the game needs yall
(Shoutout NogginMovementTV another great youtuber that mostly plays KOC)
Before we help the game, the devs need to get their shit together first lol.
I 100% think it was because it wasn’t free-to-play and had a $20 price tag. It felt like a simple f2p game, with an item shop and everything.
You're touching on the actual issue without even realizing it, which is to say that it IS a F2P game WITH a price tag attached. They were essentially trying to "double dip" as it were.
Tbh I love this game a lot, I've been playing it ever since summer, it's so much better if you find an active crew and that's not so hard to do on official K.O. City discord server, people are looking for players often, I'm hoping it will still hold on building a bigger fan base.
The sbmm is what kinda killed it for me. Yeah I played competitive and got to emerald I believe in the first season but after that Trying to play casually just became unbearable by myself. But who knows maybe I'll come back to it after in done with the list of games Im looking forward to playing
The game is still great and with the free to play coming season 2 (June 1st) i think you should revisit this topic and game. I have found many amateur tournaments and there is for sure a competitive view
There are so many free to play multiplayer games out there with much more depth and replayability, that games like these which are online-only pay to play, simple but innovative idea always struggle to hold a playerbase that this model just isnt sustainable anymore in the industry. They always struggle in keeping a playerbase alive when they dont make it free to play
I played this game till my hands hurt when it first came out then went to play other games for a few days and hope back in to see that it was sweaty af with not enough people playing everyday especially an issue with dead crews and I got it at 20 bucks didn’t know it was 30 this game and avengers need to be f2p but this game is fun nonetheless
Thanks for featuring some of my clips 🤝 I really love this game and hope it has a resurgence. Unlimited potential and Velan has been putting in a ton of work to keep people invested and to try brining new players in 🙏
He's a liar Noggin. The game isn't dead at all. Literally my longest Que time was 5:50 and that was for league play! & I'm high diamond! I have members in my crew that are all different ranks. They say Bronze thru gold have long waits but majority of the KOCiTY community are Platinum players so Platinum and Sapphire have 1-3 min waits. Emerald Ruby and Diamond are a bit longer but that's due to MMR being as fair as possible
@@xanadujones843 hating on EA is the cool thing to do and it will bring him views, so I get it. But I agree, the game is far from dead and most people who say that are just looking for attention. I would love for the game to become truly big, though. It’s the most fun I’ve had playing a game pretty much ever
@@NogginMovement ohhhh okay that makes sense bud. I was playing with Xyplo the other day(i got put against top 5 players. He was 3 his buddies were 4 & 5) and he didn't understand the false information either. Yeah man this game stole me from OverWatch so its super good.
I still enjoy playing the game with my friends I think it can still grow with all the extra content they are adding
Knockout City has the same problem as Ninjala to me... the gameplay might be fun but it's instantly forgettable and feels incredibly shallow.
And Call of Duty is memorable and full of life? Please smh KO City is excellent and will still be here in a few years mark my words. I said the same thing about OverWatch when everyone doubted it and most recently I've said the same thing about Among us.
@@xanadujones843
And... none of those are games I play anymore either. Maybe don't read layers deeper into a comment?
I never tire of my throwaway opinion being misrepresented as some big picture hot take...
I don't get it. We still play Mario Kart 64 and that game has no new content. I don't know how well this game sold, but I consider this game successful and then some. Every time our crew picks it up for pub stomping and private battles, it's an absolute riot. Just because the mechanics don't last more than 100 hours to its highest-level players, that doesn't mean the game has any faults of its own.
There’s so many new events in knockout city now, the halloween event ended and a few days later there is another new event. I got this game back in its beta and it’s never been better than it is now!
One thing I noticed is that the environments seem pretty stable. If the environment had some hazards or would change, then there might be some replay value.
The game is far from dead. I agree with the bugs and lag issues that gets annoying at times
I remember seeing the trailer for this
I genuinely thought it was gonna be some crazy crossover with completely different character styles
one of the easier fixes will be to actually have to aim the ball, while reducing the window to catch to compensate, which will increase the skill factor while keeping the ttk roughly the same
The music for this game is incredible too
I play the game daily, I love it but it needs some work for the high tier players like an improved comp mode and netcode for stablity, and i feel like if they were to make the move to F2P, The player count would be a much need boost
Anyone remember the trailer with the funny princess?
I do.
KC is a good game, however for my friends and I it just came at the wrong time. We were juggling between rocket league seasons, apex, souls, and multiple fighting games. No time to fit in another competitive season, casual it was a great experience but we slowly drifted off
These videos deserve way more views man! Never stop once you’re happy doing them, they make my day every-time I catch one
This game was so fun. It kinda reminds me of Rocket League. Primarily team based game, takes some skill but nothing crazy, pretty straightforward, lots of cosmetics. I never really had server issues unless I was in a tournament with like, Croatian people teleporting around the map on super high ping. Shame to see a lot of people drop it. I will say that the prices on a lot of cosmetics were obscene. Like $12 for an outfit is just dumb, especially when there's nothing all that cool anyway.
Most of these failed games I hear about for the first time in the video about their failure.
Games servers are shutting down in June, sucks man really loved this game
I won't lie, I completely forgot about this game until seeing this video. I remember when the first trailer came out, like, 7 months ago, people were commenting on how the trailer (the one with the characters giving one-on-one interviews) looked more interesting than the game itself. In fact, I think many people thought it was a shooter of some sort by the end of said trailer.
I used to play this game, but I had to delete it for more storage and then I completely forgot about it and now it has like a SUPER small player base and there’s a new season? Man time flies fast
Thanks for the vid
I hope with the game being free for ps plus users it grows even more. This season is leaps ahead of seasons 1 and 2. If you haven’t played ever, or it’s been awhile, definitely give it another shot! You might be pleasantly surprised!
I remember the way this game was first revealed during a Nintendo Direct. The trailer started with this sort of interview to different videogames characters like a pixelated fairy and a FPS soldier, and then it revealed itself to be a dodgeball game. I still don't get the connection to this day.
I've played the game since launch and it's still a great game to play. There always having new events, and new stuff every season! The connectivity issues have been for the most part fixed I haven't lagged since launch. Every now and again it will happen but it's not as frequent. And for mechanics there's always mechanics being discovered like the self-pass, traveling, or ult cancel. There's also not as many bugs either plus Velan always comes out with an update to fix it if there is. There's also frequent new game modes that change the game and are really fun! So all in all KO City is still a great game to play! :)
It sucks that tomorrow (which is June 6th 2023 for future events) knockout servers have been discontinued it is possible that maybe it will come back but as of this date it's gone. But I will still keep it installed for the future 😁
It's honestly one of my favourite games of the year, and definitely my favorite online game of the year
I think the biggest issue is, as stated in the video, the fact that the gameplay loop gets really simple, each match feels the same and there is very little room for creativity and diversity
I think they just need to add this one more thing that would make the game less repetitive, and it would work, because everything else is so polished
Loved the game at launch and played with friends too, but that kind of game is EXPECTED to be a free to start game (with all the cosmetics you have to buy), so charging 20 usd was a no for me. Glad I decided to not support it in hopes it would change.
I don't think all competitive games need to have an extremely high skill ceiling to stay relevant. Are there not a variety of competitive games like this such as smash ultimate, dropkick and fantasy strike? I think all this game needs to do is provide more casual game modes like league and smash do and this should stay relavent.
I also think it would be possible to increase the appeal to hardcore players if they added a single player mode with a leaderboard to those who want to be the best but that's a less important point.
I speak as a player who participated in the free trial but left because I didn't want to buy I game that I might not play without my friends.
*divekick don’t disrespect my game like dat
If the game does go full free like Rocket League, they BETTER give us some compensation since I and loads of other people paid for the game
Battleborn 😭 that game has and will always have a special place in my heart
The initial reveal was so bad I just ignored the rest of the game for awhile
I still play this game and enjoy it a lot. I do wish there were more player expression in mechanics but still its fun to play from time to time and everyone should pick it up and servers are not dead so u will find a game
This game looked like a lot of fun. I'll try it out if they ever go free to play, if I can get my friends to join me that is
I've biught the game when it was in beta with a friend. We loved the game and we got to diamond rank ( it was so much fun ) after summer we tried playing once more but it died and servers were empty. As someone who played for a hundred hours I want that game to be popular again as it was at the launch
I played it and bought it during the free trial, and I do still believe it's an enjoyable game, it's just that I don't find there to be much replayability to it for casual players. It is also a bit simple, but for someone like me who doesn't really plan to get competitive with it, but yeah, it does get a bit old after long enough. All of the concepts that the game created are really unique and if they add a lot more content consistently, it could have a lot of life, but they don't add all that content. I will admit, for a first time legitimate game from Velan Studios, who had only ever made Mario Kart Live Home Circuit last year, it is quite impressive, but it's only really impressive for being their first legitimate game. It also really does feel like a free to play game that's $20 where you can play for a few hours as a demo. If it becomes free to play, I'd hope it'll become much more popular than it ever was to begin with. And bluntly, I don't really blame Velan for the bad servers, that can be pinned on whoever is running the servers, and it's not gonna be Velan.
A good story can inspire rich and diverse mechanics, which is why I feel every game should have one, even if it is very small.
Yeah, even fighting games have storylines. Dumb and confusing stories, but still stories.
They did release some story lore for the game in Season 3. You can to learn more about the DJ announcer who talks in all the matches of Knockout City.
This was a free game with my switch I loved it and I am mad it is gone
Honestly it looks dope, except for the server issues of course. It's weird how people decry free-to-play, but also complain when games aren't free-to-play? It's 20 bucks, any game is worth 20 bucks, unless it's an incomplete wretch.
Its 20 bucks, yet it still has micro transactions like it is Free to Play
@@lutherholayeahme7449 Yeah, I mean... if you only think the game is worth 20 bucks then don't buy the in game stuff? And if you think the in game stuff is worth it then do?? Is that hard to figure out?
Just because there's an opportunity to spend more money doesn't mean you need to, nor do you need to shut out opportunities to make more money just because you're already making money. More options is not a bad thing.
Now if the in game purchases are *important* to the core gameplay itself, then yeah the 20 dollar price tag would be redundant, but cosmetics are not that, plain and simple
@@KuzuTomoki This ^
@@KuzuTomoki Regardless, the issue remains, which is that most people like customization. Most customization is locked behind Holobux and/or a MAJOR time investment. A pay to play game that is blatantly free to play styled is just awful.
i went back a page not knowing this video was the prevous page boy was i suprised when 7:06 was the first thing i heard
I played it a lot during the beta around march, and I think that their biggest mistake was including SO MUCH content in the beta. Because they did that, the full release was underwhelming, as all that was new was 1 map and 1 ball, not a lot to get excited about.
Picked up this game on plus and I think it’s so much fun most fun I’ve had on a free game in years maybe since rocket league and I think the fact it’s so simple is why I like it and I’ve played hundreds of matches and never had a server issue once or been disconnected
I like it, but the first point was my biggest issue. It’s too simple.
It gets to a point where the bomb feels the most interesting due to its ability to be fairly fine controlled and hardest reactibility.
Still, I enjoy the game occasionally, but there’s not enough variety for me to keep playing for extended times.
Got this game on ps plus and I'm liking it. Hopefully it still get some love from the player base cause I played my first couple matches today and I had so much fun. But I understand the gripes. So I have hopes it continues to grab back that audience
I've played since release on console for about 30 hours then got bored, but my friend recently got it and now I'm having a ball playing it
It is my opinion that free to play is an essential element of any game where other players is a core part of the game's content. Sure, hype can result in buy-in - but once the hype passes - it's all downhill from there - and it is a downward spiral, especially for pay-to-play. I could be mistaken but that's what I'm strongly suspecting right now.
I think you're on to something with team based multiplayer games. Higher price tag means less players and less players means less variety/avaliable matches and more boredom/frustration.
However, what about fighting games and the like however? Street fighter and tekken have been around for a while despite relying on pay to play.
I wouldn't say that's generally true. I think the issue with this game is that it is VERY blatantly designed as a F2P title (cash shop, no reasonable way to earn in game currency, xp slowing to a crawl without doing the absolute most, etc.), but still has the balls to ask for money up front. From what I understand, roughly 80% of the players from the free demo a while back jumped ship when that price tag was added. Since then, the playerbase just continued to decline. All the while, the dev team either ignored and/or silenced any valid criticisms and such. Simply put, it was/is indeed a shit show of sorts.
The most you can do to try and enjoy the game is use the official Discord server. Even then it's a gamble. Most people their are the shameless yes men the devs are trying to milk. Anything outside of yes sir, please, and thank you will get you banned/muted for heresy.
@@darkchaozbringer785 Talk about it, discord has high levels of copium saying this game is highly populated. I posted math to predict an accurate concurrent playerbase and a developer deleted it almost immediately. I got reprimanded, because “other people who mention player-count have been toxic in the past”. I don’t see why it’s fair to put me to blame for the actions of others.
@@Frozpls Indeed. My experience was with someone that goes by VelanJosh. I don't "hate" the guy per se, but I made it very clear to him that I think he's a pitiful weasel. I can't speak on any others of the team aside from their willful ignorance & stubbornness though.
@@eden4658 Well, for one thing fighting games tend to be 1v1 or 2v2 - which have a greater tolerance for player base erosion (and a greater depth of individual play) than a 5v5 or similar game modes.
When I speak of downward spirals I refer to the tendency of people to move on to new things. This doesn't prevent people from sustaining a Tekken 3 scene, for instance, but new players are less likely to enter it and more players are likely to move on to other newer fighting games.
I had forgotten this existed…
i love this game!!!!! i play it every now and then but not as much as i did when it first came out but i always get excited whenever i boot it back up
The SBMM has been complete shit as of late! I’m Street Rank 435 (Platinum League) and I am constantly loaded into MATCHES IN PROGRESS where my team mates are Ranks 08, 14, etc (brand new players) and then there’s random me. Like WTF?! Stop loading me into these shitty matches.
You made this video right before it went free on psplus and got another big boost of players.
This game’s pretty fun but real infuriating sometimes. There’s some connection woes and not having communication with your team makes it hard to communicate plays.
That first issue doesn't sit well with me. Cause when developers make the game too difficult to play, then everyone has an issue with it. They complain the game is too hard, it's gatekeeping other players from enjoying it, et cetera. I can never understand what it is players want. They want something hard to play because if it's too easy they'll get bored of it, but then they want something easy to play so they don't feel left behind or out of the loop or they have to lab every day of the week to understand?
I can imagine if the samey maps, few attack/weapon types can get boring, I can imagine that can be boring. Server issues, I can imagine that can make the game irritating to play.
5:13 Well I have some news for you!
The game needs some high skill mechanics to attract people to put in work to improve and would also help the skill based matchmaking be more viable.
I didn't dwell too much on the price because the beta they had absolutely sold me on it.
However, looking at how a game like Ninjala is still alive due to its nature as a free-to-play title (and all those collabs they had), I think Knockout City might have to go down that route soon.
Everyone I played with/tried to sell the game on cited the $20 price point as the major hurdle - the game is fun as hell, but it needs the population to sustain itself. I do still believe in Velan Studios and their ability to make a super-compelling experience.
I love this game, but the only thing that had to stop me and my girlfriend from playing were server issues. SO MUCH LAG!!!!
I actually love this game, and desperately want to see it survive!!!
Does anyone know where Akshon got the information that Knockout City was 'struggling to hold a playerbase'? The only resource I'm aware of says the game still has a nice chunk of players, far from "struggling". I'm wondering if there's more info about it out there that says otherwise.
Just look at the Knockout City steamdb. The player numbers at any given time are usually as low as 90ish and as high as 250 something. Even if you wanted to combine this with the console peasant's playerbase due to crossplay, it's hard to imagine a significant difference in numbers. On that note, the game is on about 5-6 platforms. Multiplying that 250ish peak (being generous) to simulate the same notable peak across each platform times 6 leaves you with 1500. 1500 worldwide is well....terrible. If you want to go off your own experiences alone, try to encourage someone to buy the game and see how that goes with different sample pools.
If you consider a ~2000 player base good enough then maybe it isn’t dying. But it certainly isn’t growing either.
@@Frozpls Where did you find that number?
@@Booyah Steam player count is an accurate count for pc concurrent players.(Let's be honest epic playerbase and origin are gonna be astronomically low). Using ratios based off percentages from reaction roles on the ko city official discord you can find a rough estimate of # of console players across platforms. Then you can add extra numbers to compensate for console players less likely using discord. Add those up, you'll get a number of around 1,650 last time I checked and that's if you're super generous and add flat numbers ontop. Realistically it's around 1,400. Keep in mind I did these calculations like ~august of this year. The numbers now are going to be lower. If you're actually curious I can try to condense the full post here.
@@Frozpls In other words, we're just guessing