Realtime Worlds has revealed that APB won't have an overarching narrative, in a developer diary on their offical website. GamerZines investigates what this means for the title and how different story aspects will flow into the main game.
NowGamer: Realtime Worlds has lifted the lid on its urban crime MMO
NowGamer: The lead designer on Realtime Worlds' action MMO has confirmed that the game will not appear on consoles initially
As promised, closed beta invites for Realtime Worlds' massively multiplayer online cops and crooks game APB have been distributed to the registered masses. That means? Check your email!
VG247: Realtime Worlds boss Gary Dale has just confirmed at the Tech Media Invest event in London that APB will go into beta next week.
In an attempt to kick-start its own video game industry, Ireland has begun to target a number of high-profile Scottish game development studios, attempting to woo them over to the Emerald Isle by offering a five-year tax holiday. Colin Macdonald, manager of Dundee-based APB developer Realtime Worlds, responded by saying "if the package on offer in Ireland was attractive we'd have to give it serious consideration." Other Scottish developers who could be influenced by the tax holiday include Rockstar North, Denki, Ruffian Games and Dynamo Games.
Realtime Worlds is moving away from the "traditional monthly subscription model" with its upcoming urban PC MMO APB, and the studio has contracted Redwood City-based Vindicia to provide billing services and fraud management.
APB, the cops-and-robbers MMO by Crackdown creators Realtime Worlds, will go into closed beta testing within "weeks", a spokesman told Eurogamer at last weekend's Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle.
Kotaku: Realtime Worlds is looking for beta testers for their upcoming MMO APB, and you could be one of the few, once you finish filling out one of the more intrusive beta applications we've seen.
Agent-X from Hiphopgamershow writes:
Eager crooks and crimefighters alike can now sign up for the beta test of Realtime Worlds' highly-anticipated crime MMO, APB.
PS3Hype writes: 'Today Mike Kebby (PlayStation Store Manager) has revealed that APB is really coming to the PlayStation 3. He says I can't wait for APB...! This means that we maybe see an announcement for APB on the PS3 at the GamesCom 09!'
Realtime Worlds' Dave Jones hopes characters created in upcoming online action game APB will achieve Fatal1ty-like celebrity status.
Realtime Worlds creative director Dave Jones sees upcoming PC online action game APB lasting as long as traditional massively multiplayer online role-playing games like World of Warcraft and EverQuest.
Realtime Worlds boss Dave Jones told VG247 that he'd be disappointed if action MMO APB didn't shift over a million units.
Upcoming Realtime Worlds MMO APB has cost around $30 million so far, company boss Dave Jones told VG247 at Develop this week, and won't be covered by a "normal" subscription model when it releases next spring.
Jake Gaskill of G4TV writes:
Dave Jones has quite a resume in the gaming industry, having worked on a variety of franchises from Lemmings to Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown. Speaking at the Brighton Develop conference, the designer said how he is a big fan of users creating their own experiences.
APB developer RealTime Worlds has said that the online market still has a lot of untapped potential and can offer new creative and business opportunities for developers.