Divine Knockout: Executive Producer Interview

In an extensive interview with the Executive Producer of Divine Knockout today, you’ll find lots of exclusive new information in the world’s first third-person platform brawler fighting game.

Divine Knockout supports cross-play and cross-progression for Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. So the game should offer numerous exciting games and you play where and with whom you want and always take your purchased items with you when you switch to another platform! Sounds exciting? More in the interview!

Please introduce yourself and tell the XboxDynasty.de readers what your job is.

Hello, my name is Alex Grimonpont and I am the Executive Producer of Divine Knockout here at Red Beard Games in Brighton, UK.

Please briefly describe the game and explain what Xbox players can expect.

Divine Knockout (DKO) is a third-person platformer. It’s a new twist on a classic game, like going from a sidescroller to a 3D platformer. This opens up a lot of interesting new gameplay opportunities for fans of platformers.

In DKO you play the role of a god from mythology. Think Thor from Norse mythology, or Izanami from Japanese mythology, or…or even King Arthur, who’s not technically a god, but we count him anyway because he’s kind of a legend. Our roster is inspired by the gods of SMITE but designed in a chibi shape.

We’ve simplified the controls a bit and tied the skills to a single button – almost like a hero shooter. The depth of DKO comes from positioning, timing and strategy, not complex inputs.

Last but not least, we have 3v3 modes that are great to play with friends, or super-tough 1v1 and 2v2 duels for fans of traditional fighting games.

What made you decide to release the game for the Xbox?

Our publisher, Hi-Rez, has had great success on Xbox in the past. SMITE was an Xbox exclusive when it launched, so there are a lot of SMITE fans there. We wanted to make sure that DKO is available for this SMITE community.

Cross-play and cross-progression are also part of the Hi-Rez ethos. They currently have four titles that allow cross-play and cross-progression (SMITE, Paladins, Rogue Company, Realm Royale) and we’re proud to be the fifth. We believe everyone should be able to play our games no matter where they are.

Also, we have a lot of hardcore Xbox fans in our office. I think they would quit if we weren’t on Xbox.

What are the technical details of the Xbox Series X (frame rate and resolution)?

4K, 120fps

And how loud them for the Xbox Series S?

[Diese Informationen werden später bekannt gegeben.]

How many arenas are there in the game?

At launch we will have 7 arenas for our core 3v3 arcade mode. Each of these arenas has its own unique gameplay hazards for players to learn; one arena has boulders trying to knock you off the mountain, while another slowly crumbles and another boasts spinning spikes. Each arena can also be played in four different modes: Knockout, King of the Hill, Oddball, and Coin Blitz.

For those who want to focus more on mastering combat, there are 7 other arenas built specifically for 1v1 and 2v2 duels. These maps are smaller, which encourages more combat, and also have fewer dangers. It’s a much more serious experience.

We plan to release more arenas for 3v3 and for our Duel modes on a regular basis after launch.

And how many characters?

DKO launches with 10 playable gods: Ymir, Amaterasu, Arthur, Athena, Hercules, Izanami, Sol, Susano, and Thanatos.

We plan to release more gods regularly!

Do you have any plans for a character editor or is everything tied to battle passes and seasonal events?

Every god in DKO is customizable from day one. We have an in-depth talent system that allows you to customize each god to play exactly the way you want.

My favorite god is Athena. You can choose a range of blessings and traits that allow you to focus on being an accurate javelin thrower or a teamwork-focused shield wielder. Or just about any other strategy you can think of!

The more you play, the more options you have. Once you’ve unlocked a boon for one god, you can use it on all gods. So maybe you’ll find a new boon while playing Sol that will lead you to try a new talent set for Ymir. It’s a lot of fun to mix and match and find what works for you.

One point that was absolutely crucial for us is that each god is available in full strength from level 1. You always start with a full load of blessings and traits, and you only unlock more options – not more power.

Of course, there are also cosmetics that you can buy or unlock through progression if you want to customize your look. We will release more of these over time.

What do you think makes the game unique compared to other brawlers?

The biggest difference is certainly the unique approach to third-person platform combat. As far as we know, no one has done this before.

It took the team more than three years to define what a third-person platform fighter is. There was a lot of experimentation, because not everything that works in a 2D platform fighter can be transferred one-to-one. There was a lot of fine-tuning, adding complexity in some areas and removing it in others.

I think when you play it you can feel it immediately. It’s hard to describe, but most of all, DKO is just plain fun. When someone sits down with us and plays for the first time, they immediately want to play another round. And then we knew that we were really on the right track.

What is the future of your game on Xbox? Have you already created a roadmap?

We have an internal roadmap. But the most important thing for us is the development of DKO together with our community.

We have an active Discord community and we try to listen to what our players want. So we’re not trying to commit to specific features right now, we’re listening to what our fans want and building DKO in that direction.

One thing I can 100% confirm: expect regular releases of new gods and arenas!

What tips would you give to Xbox gamers?

As with any platformer, the most important thing is “recovery” – how to get back on stage when knocked over.

Each god has a movement ability on LT, which is usually the most convenient way to get back into the arena. However, if your LT is on cooldown, try combining leaps, leaps, and attacks to get back on the stage. You’ll be surprised how much distance you can cover once you get good at it!

Another important tip: if you play 3v3 arcade, you should track the objective. Often random internet opponents just try to fight non-stop. Try concentrating on controlling the hill in King of the Hill, controlling the ball in Oddball, or collecting coins and inserting them in Coin Blitz. You’ll likely rake in a lot more winnings this way!

Is there anything else you would like to say to the XboxDynasty.de readers?

We are very happy that you can play Divine Knockout. It’s been a labor of love for all of us here at Red Beard Games.

We truly believe that we have created something special here, something new and familiar at the same time. And we really hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

If you enjoy it, please join our community at discord.gg/dkogame and help shape the future of DKO as we build this game together.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this interview!

= Partner & affiliate links: Possible listed offers are usually provided with so-called affiliate links. With a purchase through one of these links you support Xboxdynasty. Without affecting the price, we receive a small commission from the provider and can offer this website to you free of charge.