We’ve been following the implosion of Realtime Worlds and APB, its flagship title, since it kicked off earlier this year. If you need a recap, the game had an identity crisis before launch, was buggy and confused mess at launch, didn’t make much money and ultimately was closed in record setting time followed by the studio itself. The debacle lead to EA and Hi-Rez Studios offering some support to those burned.
After weeks of trying, the skeleton crew left on by the creditors have managed to find a company brave enough to purchase the intellectual property, GamersFirst (I’ve never heard of any of the company’s games). The company announced last week that it’d acquire the IP and infrastructure, and even foot the bill for employees left without pay and promised bonuses. Nice of GamersFirst.
The F2P-centric company will relaunch APB as a F2P game entitled APB: Reloaded in early 2011.
GamersFirst’s Bjorn Book-Larsson had the following to say:
“APB was a game that had several exceptional features and some brilliant ideas, even though it was plagued by some initial balance and monetization issues. We want to take all the unique features of this title, such as its unparalleled character, weapon and car customization systems, and convert the game to a true free-to-play game. We are deep into the planning and early execution stages for this next chapter of APB and we will share more details in the near future.”
So pixiestixy will be able to get her fashion business started free of charge now!
In almost-entirely-unrelated news, Bizarre Creations, maker of Blur, Project Gotham Racing and my favorite arcade racer ever, Metropolis Street Racer, was reportedly closed by Activision today. Call of Duty: Blood Stone might have been a better title.
I guess some game’s just Die Hard. Good for them, since a GTA style game is something that has alotta potential.
Never played the series personally, but I know enough to see it’s got a great aspect to it.