Earlier this year, developer Velan Studios announced its intention to re-launch Knockout City as a free-to-play game. The excellent multiplayer dodge-brawl title has always appeared to be perfectly suited to this model, and it's soon to adopt this new approach. News of the shift has been known for a while — we've just been missing a launch date. Now, with Season 6 on the cusp of release, we have our answer.

So, Knockout City will become totally free-to-play on 1st June 2022, day and date with the arrival of Season 6. You can watch a trailer for the new season above.

With this shift come a few question marks, so let's quickly go through some of that. When 1st June rolls around, the game will be leaving EA Play. If you already own Knockout City (either through purchase or PS Plus), you'll be entitled to the Loyalty Royalty Bundle, which gifts you "exclusive legendary cosmetics, XP boosts, and 2,000 Holobux". You shouldn't need a PS Plus subscription to play it once it's free-to-play, but Velan Studios is still "working through some details" on that front. On the monetisation side, things are pretty much staying the same — Holobux, the in-game currency, can be earned through play or purchased outright, as normal, The Brawl Pass can still be progressed for free, but you'll be able to buy a premium tier, either with Holobux or real money, if you really want the top-end cosmetics.

As for what Season 6 offers, the first addition is a new ball, the Boomerang Ball, which returns to you after hitting its target. Catch it and its power and speed will grow. Elsewhere, the Hideout hub area is being expanded, and will feature an area where you can play soccer as well as some basketball hoops to play with. Finally, there will be several special events happening over the next couple of months to keep things fresh.

It's all looking up for Knockout City, then — will you be giving it a try once it goes free-to-play? Don't dodge the question in the comments section below.

[source youtube.com, via ea.com]