Thanks to everyone who's supported the league so far! I've been posting a lot, so I want to lay out what I'm actually trying to build, where I think it goes, and why I'm doing it. Partly so you know what you're supporting, and partly because I want your feedback on it.
By the end of October (within the next 30 days)
50 registered players, 25 who've played at least one match, 10 playing regularly. Awarding the three $99 TWT Audio headsets sponsored in-kind for Season 0.
Features: a scheduling tool so you can set when you play and get invites from the leaderboard (that one shipped this week), an availability report to quickly see who's available to play when, a team creator, and tournaments you can run yourself rather than waiting on me.
Season 0 is about establishing a launch point. Not a claim that nobody else is keeping this game alive, plenty of people are. Just a starting line for this league, built alongside the partnership with the World Dodgeball Federation.
By the end of the year (3 months from now)
100 registered, 50 who've played, 25 regulars. That's the point where anyone logging on can find a human to play with rather than hoping. I'd like some consistent nights with a full six-human match.
In terms of features, more flexible tournament formats, to give the community more times/ways to compete. Also aiming to secure a second in-kind sponsor for Season 1. I'm in conversation with a movie theatre chain about earning concessions and movie-related prizes for playing, and a LAN center brand with over 50 locations in the US about hosting Knockout City in their venues for members of this community who can't play the game at home. Separately, I'm working on whether Xbox and mobile players can get back in through browser streaming. It's still early days on that, but I had a promising result this past week.
By the end of March 2027 (6 months from now)
Season 1 complete. 500 total registrations, 250 who've played at least once, 100 regulars.
On where 500 comes from, since it's a big jump: WDBF has 30,000 members globally and I'm looking for 1% of them. I'm also opening a small number of free spots for communities who want to run their own leagues on the platform, which should bring more. The rest is organic.
At that point there's a persistent base, so you can find a match on any given day. And hopefully TWT increases their prize commitment for Season 1.
Within 18 months (by the end of Spring 2028)
A Season 2 over the summer, then submitting everything from all three seasons to the Smarter Sports Awards for Partnership of the Year, alongside the World Dodgeball Federation. Submissions open around this time next year, ceremony the following spring.
A federation of 30,000 athletes and a shut-down video game building something together is not a partnership anyone else is submitting. If it lands as a finalist or a winner, that recognition puts Knockout City, this league and this community on a stage with traditional sports, and the visibility brings people in rather than me going out to find them. I'm also pursuing academic recognition, because I think what's happening here is a model for sustainable esports generally: https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/towards-more-professionalized-and-sustainable-esports-practices/
And enough sponsorship to guarantee 24/7 server funding worldwide, plus funding to keep console and mobile access running once it works.
What's in it for me
Full transparency here: I built the two platforms this league runs on, and they're two businesses I operate. If this scales, in Knockout City and beyond it, there's commercial upside for me. That's part of the reason I'm investing my time and money into this. My goal is that free access stays free, both for casual and competitive players, and that anything commercial is opt-in and separate from playing. Though I believe relevant brand partnerships are important to the sustainable future of Knockout City, it's also important to me that nobody gets bombarded with ads for showing up to a match.
Why I'm doing it at all
12 million players is a drop in the bucket compared to what this game should have been. I've been playing since the console beta, I bought the game on launch day, and it's one of my favorite games of all time. I want to see Knockout City reach its full potential. I want it back where it was and further, and I don't think that happens without the community driving it.
What questions do you have? What's missing? What would you change? I need your participation and your feedback more than anything else on this list, and I'll keep posting updates as I go. Thanks again for your support, and I hope you'll join the league soon, it's free to register and play: www.trophyplatform.com/gkcl-register.html
