Independent by choice. Inventive by nature. Making games worth caring about since 2016.
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ALT A fullscreen graphic of a Hot Wheels Rift Rally car with blue charged front wheels speeding from the the left to the right side of the screen. In the background, two people having fun playing.
ALT We said a hard goodbye to Knockout City. Sunsetting a game so many called home wasn't easy, but we made sure the community could carry it forward on their own. The same year, we came back to AR racing with Hot Wheels Rift Rally, building on our mixed reality technology.
ALT A fullscreen Knockout City graphic with three brawlers viewed from the back, running towards the background, dodgeballs in hand, taking on an imposing, gigantic Super-Science Symposium member.
ALT Knockout City entered a new chapter. We took the game free-to-play, welcoming a new wave of brawlers. We also took over publishing, taking the game’s future into our own hands. This meant new seasons, new content, and room to experiment with how a game like this could grow.
ALT A fullscreen Knockout City graphic with three brawlers viewed from the back, running towards the background, dodgeballs in hand, taking on an imposing, gigantic Super-Science Symposium member.
ALT Knockout City entered a new chapter. We took the game free-to-play, welcoming a new wave of brawlers. We also took over publishing, taking the game’s future into our own hands. This meant new seasons, new content, and room to experiment with how a game like this could grow.
ALT A full graphic for Knockout City, with one dodgeball coming into the frame from the left to the right. One character in the front, holding a ball with both hands over their head, flanked by two others, one each side.
ALT Knockout City opened its doors to players around the world. Five years of work turned into a city obsessed with dodgeball, that played like nothing else out there. Millions of brawlers showed up, found their crews, and called it home. We built the city, but the community brought it to life.
ALT Pictured is a room in the game Midnight Murder Club. A flashlight creates a circular light which reveals a door and door frame on the left, a table in the center against the wall, and a safe on top of the table. The iron safe with gold trim has been opened and from this angle, you see the door + dial, and can just make out a plush interior.
ALT Pictured is a room in the game Midnight Murder Club. A flashlight creates a circular light which reveals an opened iron safe with gold trim. From this angle, you see the red, plush interior, and an edited graphic from the Steam store page over top of the safe advertising: "Buy Midnight Murder Club - SPECIAL PROMOTION! Offer ends October 8" and "-20%".
ALT A full graphic for Knockout City, with one dodgeball coming into the frame from the left to the right. One character in the front, holding a ball with both hands over their head, flanked by two others, one each side.
ALT Knockout City opened its doors to players around the world. Five years of work turned into a city obsessed with dodgeball, that played like nothing else out there. Millions of brawlers showed up, found their crews, and called it home. We built the city, but the community brought it to life.
ALT In the front center is Mario in a red Kart, driving towards the viewer, Bowser Jr. behind to the right, Luigi behind to the left. The background strip is someone playing from the couch.
ALT It was a year none of us will forget. As COVID reshaped everything, a small team in a bubble worked on-site to finish Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit while the rest of the studio went fully remote. Together, we shipped it in October as our first release with Nintendo. It proved that "it's never been done before" was exactly the point.
ALT In the front center is Mario in a red Kart, driving towards the viewer, Bowser Jr. behind to the right, Luigi behind to the left. The background strip is someone playing from the couch.
ALT It was a year none of us will forget. As COVID reshaped everything, a small team in a bubble worked on-site to finish Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit while the rest of the studio went fully remote. Together, we shipped it in October as our first release with Nintendo. It proved that "it's never been done before" was exactly the point.
ALT A group photo of Velan developers from the year 2019, with some sitting on a couch and the rest standing behind the railing of a staircase. 2019 in the bottom corner, EST 2016 Tenth Anniversary logo in the upper corner.
ALT We were building two games at once. Knockout City was deep in development with EA, and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit was engineered from the ground up with Nintendo. These were two major partners and two very different bets, but we were one team going all-in on both of them.
ALT A group photo of Velan developers from the year 2019, with some sitting on a couch and the rest standing behind the railing of a staircase. 2019 in the bottom corner, EST 2016 Tenth Anniversary logo in the upper corner.
ALT We were building two games at once. Knockout City was deep in development with EA, and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit was engineered from the ground up with Nintendo. These were two major partners and two very different bets, but we were one team going all-in on both of them.
ALT A group photo of Velan developers from the year 2018, with some sitting on a couch and the rest standing behind the railing of a staircase. 2018 in the bottom corner, EST 2016 Tenth Anniversary logo in the upper corner.
ALT We took an early prototype of Knockout City to E3, not sure what the world would make of it. Pitch after pitch came back the same way: people got it. It was the first real sign that when we went after something new and different, others would be just as excited as we were.
ALT A group photo of Velan developers from the year 2018, with some sitting on a couch and the rest standing behind the railing of a staircase. 2018 in the bottom corner, EST 2016 Tenth Anniversary logo in the upper corner.
ALT We took an early prototype of Knockout City to E3, not sure what the world would make of it. Pitch after pitch came back the same way: people got it. It was the first real sign that when we went after something new and different, others would be just as excited as we were.
ALT Our priority was building an awesome team. We had a small office in Troy filled with industry veterans and brand-new grads working on a couple prototypes. One team chased a competitive multiplayer idea, and another explored mixed reality. Neither project had a name yet, but everyone had something to contribute.
ALT A group photo of Velan developers from the year 2017, with some standing and four sitting on a couch. 2017 in the bottom corner, EST 2016 Tenth Anniversary logo in the upper corner.
ALT A screenshot from the Velan Studios game Midnight Murder Club. Several players are standing around a fountain feature. There's confetti in front of the player's PoV from their firearm. There's a disco ball on the ceiling, spiraling green lights from the Party Room Wildcard. There are other hues of pink lighting.
ALT A screenshot from the Velan Studios game Midnight Murder Club. The player is firing their pistol at a demonic, floating head entity in front of them. It's ejecting red lightning sparks, mouth open, screaming. There's another enemy human to the right wielding a knife. In the background, a skull on fire flies towards the player. There's fire everywhere on the floor. Chaos.
ALT Our priority was building an awesome team. We had a small office in Troy filled with industry veterans and brand-new grads working on a couple prototypes. One team chased a competitive multiplayer idea, and another explored mixed reality. Neither project had a name yet, but everyone had something to contribute.
ALT A group photo of Velan developers from the year 2017, with some standing and four sitting on a couch. 2017 in the bottom corner, EST 2016 Tenth Anniversary logo in the upper corner.
ALT A graphic of the index card mentioned with 2016 in the bottom-right of the corner: "Velan Studios Business Plan, Oct. 2016 1. Build Awesome Team 2. Find the Magic in Something New that the team is really passionate about 3. Figure out go to market strategy and partners 4. Build it, ship it, evolve it with the community."
ALT Velan Studios started small. At the beginning we were six people around a table with a lot of questions and the belief that there was a better way to make games. Co-founders Karthik and Guha Bala had a four-step business plan they wrote on an index card. A decade later, we’re still using it.
ALT A graphic of the index card mentioned with 2016 in the bottom-right of the corner: "Velan Studios Business Plan, Oct. 2016 1. Build Awesome Team 2. Find the Magic in Something New that the team is really passionate about 3. Figure out go to market strategy and partners 4. Build it, ship it, evolve it with the community."
ALT Velan Studios started small. At the beginning we were six people around a table with a lot of questions and the belief that there was a better way to make games. Co-founders Karthik and Guha Bala had a four-step business plan they wrote on an index card. A decade later, we’re still using it.
ALT A Velan employee is shown sitting at his desk. Part of his monitor is barely showing and all of his backlit keyboard is on display. In front of the keyboard is a small notepad with several notes scribbled down. In his left hand, a pink calculator. In his right hand, a Velan-branded pen. He's wearing a hoodie and looking at the screen with a bemused disbelief, glare reflecting in the lenses of his glasses. A likely empty coffee mug flanks his right hand.
ALT A Velan employee is shown standing at their desk. We're given a side PoV and can just make out their monitor with several lines of writing on it. They have on a biking helmet with the neck straps loose. He also has on a pair of sunglasses (indoors), and over-the-ear headphones which don't quite reach all of his ear over the helmet. He's leaning with a slight hunch, focused, with a window out of focus behind him.
ALT A Velan employee is shown standing at their desk. We can just make out the side of their desk-rise which has a little bit of plants, a mug, and some aspirin + a hacky-sack/stress sack. They're currently writing on a small notepad with another pen dangling from their mouth from between their teeth. Their hair is a short, deep ocean blue swooped along the side of their face and they're dressed like they can't wait for October.
ALT A Velan employee is shown sitting in a chair at their desk. The point of view is looking from behind and just over their monitor. He has his hands almost clasped together behind his head, elbows resting on his desk, and head looking down in despair, just barely working out the courage to look at their monitor. They also have on a nice, longsleeve floral shirt.
