All Points Bulletin (APB) Goes Free to Play, Renamed APB: Reloaded
After GamersFirst had purchased the rights to
APB,
making it free to play was an inevitability since every MMO handled by the Korean game company can be downloaded and played without any financial transactions . It was just a matter of when to announce it. And recently they just did.
Relaunching as
APB: Reloaded, the once pay-to-play action MMO by the now-defunct Realtime Worlds, will be handled by GamersFirst subsidiary, Reloaded Productions Inc.. MMO enthusiasts and APB fans worried about many of the flaws of the original APB carrying over to the free to play iteration can relax for now as Joshua Hong, CEO of GamersFirst, has assured that community feedback will be crucial in the MMO’s “evolutionary development process.”
Gamers can also expect many of APB’s features to remain in tact in APB: Reloaded. “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” says the CTO and COO of GamersFirst, Bjorn Book-Larsson.
If you’re wondering about what Bjorn meant by this: “convert the game to a true free-to-play game.” It basically means APB: Reloaded will have micro-transactions. So that unparalleled customization system a lot of APB fans love will definitely require real-world money to purchase those special parts and equipments that can’t be bought with the in-game currency. I’m just basing this on my experience with other free to play video games though, so don’t take my word for this.
APB: Reloaded will be launched in early 2011.
Source!