MOGS

APB shuts down after 3 months.

Yesterday Gaming Studio, Realtime Worlds, announced that they would be shutting down servers for All Points Bulletin after a struggle to keep the game going ¹. Less than 3 months after it was initially launched, Ben Batemen, APB’s community officer, wrote on the game’s now-shuttered forums, “Today we are sad to announce that despite everyone’s best efforts to keep the service running; APB is coming to a close.” The game, a massively multiplayer online shooter that pitted heavily armed cops against street-racing robbers, a little like an online variant of GTA IV, met financial failure upon its launch on PC, in June this year. Said to cost over $100 million (about £63 million) to create, and with a lengthy development period of five years, it was a risky game to put out in a troubled economic period.

Worse still, reviews lambasted the game for being plagued with broken systems, outdated play mechanics and being generally unfinished. Gamers, too, weren’t impressed with extra-money making systems, on top of the monthly fee, like audio adverts over the voice chat. Now, with the game’s servers switched off, the developer’s office has been emptied of its last few staff members. Only seven employees, out of the 250 who made the game, remain on a temporary basis to completely close down the game and studio, then turn the lights out and shut the door.

APB has been pulled from both retail and digital shelves but Paul Dounis, joint administrator of Begbies Traynor (the businesses rescue agent dealing with Realtime Worlds) said that disappointed players should contact their retailer for a refund.

1. source: Wired – MMO Shooter APB shut down after 3 months  ↩