Once in a while, a game comes along that holds so much promise but ends up falling flat on its face. The most recent game that comes to mind that fell the hardest would have to be Realtime Worlds’ 2010 release, APB: All Points Bulletin. The initial buzz about this “GTA IV MMO” was huge and I personally was almost rabid about getting my hands on it. Before the game went live though, it was apparent that it was far from ready and I was not alone in thinking this.
Three months after it launched, the servers were taken down due to underwhelming subscription numbers. Players complained about lack luster graphics, poor balance between the opposing sides and absolutely terrible driving controls. Ex-Realtime Worlds employees cited management problems and issues reported by gamers being disregarded by the development team. While the game did introduce a brilliant player customization engine and also used Last.fm’s song matching technology, it obviously was not enough to carry the game. There was just too much that needed to be fixed and it wasn’t getting done.
Eventually rumors started to surface that several companies were looking to re-launch the game. Even Epic, who owns the Unreal 3 engine that the game runs on were supposedly looking to purchase the intellectual property of the game. Fast forward to 2011 and it looks like APB has gained a second lease on life thanks to GamersFirst who has purchased the intellectual property rights. In an email that I received yesterday, closed beta invites to APB: Reloaded are expected to be sent out in the coming weeks with a live launch in the first half of this year.
It remains to be seen whether the entire game has been reworked or if GamersFirst simply chose to fix the issues that should have been fixed by the original developers. If there is one thing that GamersFirst is known for, it is taking broken down games and re-launching them but APB is at the bottom of the heap in my opinion. This time around APB: Reloaded will be free to play and you can bet that many past players, including myself will be keeping a very close eye on round two.
Irvine, Calif., November 16, 2010 – GamersFirst (www.gamersfirst.com) today’s most popular Free2Play® MMO publisher, announces that Reloaded Productions, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Gamersfirst, has acquired all the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for APB: All Points Bulletin, previously developed and owned by Dundee-based Realtime Worlds Ltd.