Crew Up With Friends
READY TO LAUNCH
Hey Brawlers! I know you’re all so freakin’ excited for the Knockout City launch coming up on May 21, but I can tell you no one is as freakin’ excited as me! I’m Jeremy Russo, the Game Director for Knockout City, and I just can’t wait for you all to experience the cool new features and gameplay that’ll be available on Day 1. So, in the meantime, I asked if I could share with you all the biggest new stuff you’ll see, starting with the biggest of them all, Crews!
CREW UP!
From the beginning, Knockout City was designed with friend groups in mind. Those folks you’ve crammed into couches with in your dorm or your parents’ basement, or that you’ve teamed up with online and stayed up waaay too late just trying to get one more win. This is why, in addition to the focus on teamwork mechanics, we have features like the Hideout “lobby” area, Cross-Play on all platforms, and the ability to join on a friend at ANY time and spectate the rest of their match. So it was really important for us to provide a more structured way to connect with your friends (and make new ones) and go way beyond a simple clan tag.
Introducing CREWS. Up to 32 Crewmates, with their own unique style defined by a variety of Crew-only cosmetics, can make a name for themselves as they play together AND progress together each Season. The brawler that first creates the Crew is the Crew Captain. The Crew Captain names the Crew, picks it’s starting look, and starts inviting other players to join. Brawlers can only be in one Crew at a time, but anyone in the Crew can invite new Crewmates, whether they’re existing friends or just great teammates you happen to meet in a match. Friends can also send a request to join the Crew if they start getting jealous and want in on the action. The Crew Captain can rename the Crew at any time, kick jerkwads out if needed, and promote another Crewmate to Crew Captain if they ever want to give up the wheel and take a backseat. Speaking of taking the wheel…
RIDE IN STYLE
You still riding into each match in that red convertible? Why not try pink? Or camo? Or SHARK??
That’s right. If you’re in a Crew, skid onto the scene together in style in your own hovering Crew Vehicle. Unlock higher rarity rides for some crazy paint jobs, holograms, and more. Get a closer look and really feel that engine purr in the Hideout. If you find yourself on a team of brawlers from different Crews, one of your Crew Vehicles will be chosen at random. But don’t worry, there’s more ways to represent your Crew everywhere you go.
In the Match Setup and Match Results menus, your name is always accompanied by your Crew Name and your Crew Banner. The Crew Banner serves as the background to your Player Card. So if you find yourself up against a team all sporting the same Crew Banner, you better be at the top of your game because that means they’re all in a Crew together and are probably gonna be putting that teamwork to good use.
Each Crewmate is still free to choose their own unique style and attitude, but there’s one last crucial element to unifying the Crew, and that’s the Crew Logo. You know that KO City hologram on the back of your jacket? Well, if you’re in a Crew that gets replaced with the Crew Logo. Each logo unlocked actually has two parts, a front piece and a back piece, that can be mixed and matched with any other logo. Designs range from simple to complex, from badass to silly, and from 2D to 3D to rotating. Wear your Crew Logo in pride whether you’re riding into battle together or alone.
Here’s the cool part of all this. Every Crew cosmetic you unlock goes into your own personal inventory to take with you to whatever Crew you form or join in the future. Even though only the Crew Captain can choose a team’s Crew Vehicle, Crew Banner, and Crew Logo, they get to choose from a SHARED Crew inventory! That means ANY Vehicle, Banner, or Logo unlocked by ANY Crewmate can be equipped to the full Crew. The bigger your Crew, the more options that’ll be available to equip.
So just how the hell do you GET all this cool stuff?
PLAY TOGETHER, PROGRESS TOGETHER
The first thing you’re gonna want to do when Knockout City launches (other than completing all the Training programs for a quick 500 Holobux) is start putting together your Crew. That’s because as soon as Season 1 kicks off shortly after launch day, Crews will get exclusive access to Weekly Crew Contracts.
Think of this almost like a Free Social “Battle Pass.” Each week, Crews are randomly assigned 6 Crew Contracts to complete before the end of the week. Crew Contracts are similar to regular Contracts (in-game challenges), but they need the Crew to work together. Some require Crewmates to play on a team together and perform certain actions, like nailing some Ultimate Throw KOs. Others can be completed asynchronously by Crewmates chipping in throughout the week in their own time, like racking up 1,000 KOs. These range in difficulty, so even small Crews have a shot at completing them, but the bigger your Crew the easier it’ll be to knock out even the hardest Crew Contracts and earn all the rewards.
Before we talk about the rewards, just know this: When a Crew unlocks a reward, EVERY member of that Crew earns that reward if they logged into the game that week. Even if you TRIED to contribute to a Crew Contract but just couldn’t help make any progress, or if you logged in near the end of the week after it was already completed, you’ll STILL get the reward for any Contract your Crew completed. No matter what your situation is, your Crew has always got your back.
Okay, so about those rewards… First, each of the 6 Weekly Crew Contracts rewards a ton of XP, so being in a Crew is also a great way to boost your Street Rank progression and start earning some higher rarity cosmetics. Also each week are 2 exclusive Crew cosmetics that can only be earned that week by completing any 2 and any 4 of the Weekly Crew Contracts. Completed all 6 rewards you with a 5% Crew XP Boost, effective immediately for the rest of the Season. Crew XP Boosts give you bonus Match XP for every match you complete with at least 1 other Crewmate on your team. XP Boosts stack up, so if you killed 6 Crew Contracts a week for 8 weeks, you’d be rocking a 40% Crew XP Boost by the end of the Season. There are ways to get this even higher that you’ll find out later.
So that’s Crews! A lot to take in, I know, but we really wanted you and your friends to have something meaningful to do together each week and elevate your teamwork in matches to a real sense of comradery throughout each Season. Now let’s get to all the new GAMEPLAY you’ll be jumping into with your Crewmates on launch day!
FRESH NEW GAMEPLAY
Everything I’m about to tell you is new gameplay added to everything you already saw in the Betas. So along with Sniper Ball, Knockout Roundabout, Diamond Dash, and every other ball, map, and playlist you’ve seen, here’s what you can also expect to see in the mix at launch.
“MULTI BALL!” When you hear that announcement echo through the streets of Knockout City, you know chaos is coming your way. This is THREE balls in one, giving you several choices in your next attack. Maybe you’ll pass one off to each of your teammates to instantly arm the full team. Or maybe you’ll try a series of trick shots to throw off your opponent… Curve LEFT, Curve RIGHT, LOB! Or you could charge up your shot, and rapidly throw all three at each member of the opposing team… or all at one poor soul who’s gotta try to catch them all! These aren’t impossible to catch though, so get to practicing your rapid Catches and you’ll end up with three balls at your feet to zing back in their faces!
If you weren’t hungry before, you’ll be hankering for a burger and fries after a few rounds at the hottest hang-out in Knockout City, Galaxy Burger. This new map is a cosmic-themed burger joint that I desperately wished existed in our world. The whole establishment ORBITS around the kitchen, meaning this map is constantly rotating as walls open up and close off pathways, platforms line up to create new jumping opportunities, and outer planets and UFOs provide elevated positions that are constantly in motion. Use the central diner and arcade, as well as stationary landmarks around the perimeter of the map, to keep yourself oriented and call out enemy positions to your teammates.
Last but not least, my favorite new playlist announced so far, Party Team KO. When you see the “Party” moniker added to a playlist, that means you won’t find any Basic Balls. Instead, EVERY BALL THAT SPAWNS IS A SPECIAL BALL. Ever wonder what Rooftop Rumble would be like with ALL Cage Balls? Or how about epic sniper battles while riding atop cars in Knockout Roundabout with ALL Sniper Balls? Try not to get dizzy and barf as Curve Shots whirl all around you in Galaxy Burger with ALL Multi Balls. Sometimes you’ll even get ALL Special Balls as the loadout, so get ready to use a Moon Ball to avoid a Bomb Ball explosion targeted at your Caged teammate! Party Team KO is a wild ride, but it’s also a great way to learn the ins and outs of the different Special Balls and play becomes strategic in totally new ways after the shock wears off of seeing that many Special Balls active at once.
GET READY
As I hope you can tell, everything you’ve seen so far in the Betas has just been the tip of the iceberg of what is coming your way in KO City. Tons of gameplay variety, new social experiences to open up with your Crew, and still so much more to come in Season 1 and to announce over the next few weeks. Knockout City finally releases May 21, 2021 for PlayStation®4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Origin, Steam, and Epic Games Store, with full backwards compatibility on PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S. Stay tuned for more announcements, join the Discord to talk to other excited dodgebrawlers, and start arguing with your friends about what you’re gonna call your Crew.
(To my friends: “Team FEAR” right? Yes, I’m right.)
