- Image via CrunchBase
When all hope was lost after Realtime Worlds went into administration and chances of APB disappearing forever before it had a chance to really take off, rumours of someone buying APB were going around a few days later, now there’s no need for rumours due to Reloaded Productions, Inc. aquiring the IP rights.
“We are obviously very happy to have concluded the sale but at the same time very much regret the loss of jobs as a result of the closure of Realtime Worlds,”
said Paul Dounis of Begbies Traynor.
“As a consequence of the IPR asset sale all outstanding wages and holiday pay claims will be met in full. GamersFirst is a pioneer in the free-to-play space, thus APB will be re-launched as a free-to-play model game rather than the previous retail model. People who previously bought the game can now look forward to playing it again once it’s back online.”
APB: All Points Bulletin will be reborn as APB: Reloaded and published by GamersFirst who are a very popular Free2Play MMO publisher.
“The acquisition of APB is an important complement to our main Free2Play third-party publishing business,”
says Joshua Hong, CEO of GamersFirst.
“We believe in putting our gamers first by encouraging the community to tell us what they like or dislike and then incorporate that feedback into our evolutionary development process. The core principle is to completely eliminate all economic barriers for gamers to experience our games.”
APB: All Points Bulletin is a massively multiplayer online third-person shooter game based in the modern-day fictional city of San Paro featuring two factions, Enforcers and Criminals. Players can join either faction, and then form their own customized team and group to join the constant battle across the urban landscape.
“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,”
says Bjorn Book-Larsson, CTO and COO of GamersFirst, and responsible for GamersFirst’s studio and game development efforts.
“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. In order to put ‘Gamers First’ we will also actively engage the community in many aspects of all the planned changes.”
Find out more about GamersFirst at www.gamersfirst.com.
