Electronic Arts Knockout City will appear on subscriptions from day one

Knockout City recently had open beta testing. Electronic Arts boasted that the game was played by more than a million players, and in total, they invested 116 million minutes in it. This may sound impressive, but open testing seems to have been a weigh-in between deciding whether the game will be available through subscription from day one or not.

In the end, it was decided that the game has a better chance of success if it is offered as part of subscriptions to EA Play and Xbox Game Pass immediately after the release. Therefore, on May 21, you will be able to play Knockout City for a minimum of 30 kuna, which is the amount of a monthly subscription to EA Play on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles. The game will also be available on the Switch, but there is no such subscription there.

This is the first time that Electronic Arts has launched a completely new game as part of a subscription, ie a lower-ranking subscription. For years, there has been a Premium subscription rank on the PC for the former Origin, the current EA Play, which provides access to the latest games for 15 euros a month. However, the basic subscription for 4 euros gives access to current games only 5-10 months after their release.

A change in Electronic Arts policy was likely brought about by last year’s Rocket Arena game. It was a multiplayer title that EA launched directly for sale, and when they saw that no one cared about the game, sooner or later they offered it just two weeks later as part of a subscription to EA Play. They don’t seem to want to repeat that scenario with Knockout City.

It is also possible that this is an indication of the change in a broader sense. It is rumored that the new Battlefield should also be available from day one via subscription - if not on EA Play then via Xbox Game Pass. Is there any truth in that - we will find out soon.