We've been banging the drum for Knockout City since its initial launch a year ago, and it remains a super-fun multiplayer title. Until today, the game has been free to start, allowing everyone to get a taster before locking the game off behind a paywall once you reach a certain progression milestone. That is no longer the case, however — the game is now completely free-to-play with the latest update.

Version 6.0 is available right now on PS5 and PS4, weighing in at just over 6GB. With this patch installed, the game begins its free-to-play existence, which should revitalise the title with a fresh audience. You do not need a PS Plus subscription to play it, as with all free-to-play games on PlayStation.

The bulk of the patch actually refreshes the game with Season 6 and its new features and content. It adds a new map — Super Science Symposium — along with an overhauled Brawl Pass, Among Us crossover cosmetics, new contracts, the new Boomerang Ball, and much more.

Elsewhere, the Brawl Shop has been improved, as has the bot AI, some map adjustments have been made, and lots more technical fixes. We've included the bug fixes below, but for the full patch notes, check the link.

Fixed an issue where, occasionally, Street Rank rewards were showing the “Leather Jacket” in the match results reward sequence instead of the reward that was actually received.
This may still happen in cases where players have already received all items within a pool. We know some players are seeing this in the Platinum Tier of Street Rank, and it’s usually nothing to worry about since you aren’t missing out on any items!
For players above Platinum Tier of Street Rank that were seeing the Leather Jacket instead of the Chrome Cosmetic you were supposed to unlock… CONGRATULATIONS! That means you got to take advantage of a bug that was rewarding you the NEW Chrome Cosmetics added for Season 6. So you will actually be the first to have these in your inventory when you boot up for the first time during Season 6.
Fixed an issue where the reward sequence was skipped when a player logs in after a Crew Contract was completed while they were logged out.
Fixed an issue where some Steam players were locked out of the game even though they had previously purchased the full game.
Fixed the sudden movement that can occur when entering ballform after being “stored up” from a previous action.
Fixed an issue occasionally preventing players from scrolling through Player Cards on the "Next Match" screen.
Fixed an issue that was introduced in Season 5 that affected the resolution of Performance Mode on PS5.
Fixed an issue where certain Energy Drinks (like Potato Punch) were crediting players for the actions of their teammates.
Fixed an issue where players had to return to the title screen in order to have their selectable playlists change over into Midnight Madness mode.
Fixed an issue with the bloom on outfits' glow/holograms for the blue, green, and pink team colors.
Fixed an issue in the League Play Match Results Sequence where incorrect text was being shown after losing a match in Bronze, Sapphire, or Emerald Rank.
Fixed an issue on Nintendo Switch where accepting group invites from Nintendo Friends prevents players from accepting KO City Friend or Group Invites in-game.
Fixed a freeze which was occurring when rapidly cycling between customization menus and selecting one item from each category.
Fixed several issues which were caused after a player who’s holding or touching a ball disconnects from the game.
Fixed an issue where recently rewarded Crew Vehicles weren’t previewed in the match results screen until they were equipped.
Fixed transparency issues with certain elements of the Title Screen on Nintendo Switch.
Fixed several locations (like in the Hideout!) causing players to take damage when under certain geometry in ballform. This should only happen when under active hover technology.
Fixed missing geometry on the base of some Trophies in the Trophy Case.
Fixed an issue in Superpowers causing X-Ray Vision graphics to persist after being KO’d.
Fixed several different issues which were resulting in crashes on various platforms.
Various other fixes and improvements.

Source: PushSquare