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APB Reloaded developer opening studio in Scotland
We know that events in the video gaming industry are cyclical, but we never expected them to cycle quite this fast. Dundee, Scotland-based developer Realtime Worlds developed APB before being shut down last year. The IP was then picked up by developer GamersFirst, who is now opening a new studio in Edinburgh, Scotland under the moniker Reloaded Productions. The new studio will import the staff that's currently working to rebuild the interrupted online FPS, and will also open up 22 additional positions for folks who live in the area. Perhaps some Realtime Worlds staffers who haven't quite gotten back on their feet yet could land in these new openings! Not only would that add to the cyclical nature of the project, but it would also be a great example of human resource recycling. Go green, Reloaded Productions!
All Points Bulletin: Reloaded -- breaking news from San Paro!
Two hundred fifty thousand criminals and enforcers wait outside the city limits of San Paro, hoping to claim the city as their own. Fortunately, only a few criminals have been able to slip inside the city limits at this point. However, the enforcers are preparing to allow many members of their faction across the line to help police with the influx of the criminal element. Sources claim that these lawbreakers have been able to forge the keys necessary to allow their allies to cross the security checkpoints into the city. Our friends at the Nantego News Networks have the full story. GamersFirst is well on its way to setting up the open beta servers APB: Reloaded. In a statement on the official blog, CEO Bjorn Book-Larsson states that the network routing equipment is still on its way to the server facility, and he promises to give an update on Monday. In the meantime, the team has put together a "news" video regarding the current state of San Paro. Beyond the break, we have the full report from the N3 Network. Take a look for yourself.
GamersFirst opening studio in Scotland
The GamersFirst team is feeling pretty confident about the work put into APB: Reloaded -- so much so that the company is planning another studio in Edinburgh, Scotland. The studio will employ at least 22 people at first with an eye toward expansion later, says Bjorn Book-Larsson: "Our hope is to expand the Scottish presence and increase the size of the team over time as we add more creative game projects as part of our global MMO development efforts." Michael Boniface, former IT director for Realtime Worlds, has been hired as the general manager for the new studio and will be handling recruitment and overseeing development. APB: Reloaded is currently preparing for open beta.
APB Reloaded prepping for open beta
The beta train for APB Reloaded is rolling right along, according to the latest dev blog update. As of March 20th, GamersFirst has welcomed 25,000 testers to the title's closed beta, with 250,000 waiting in the wings -- and apparently champing at the bit. GamersFirst is also looking to the future, and Bjorn Book-Larsson writes that "the dev, design and art teams are still working on a few minor tweaks in [closed beta], but are mostly now focused on the open beta build that's coming up." While there's no word on an open beta date as of yet, we're not anticipating a lengthy wait given the speed at which GamersFirst is powering through updates and the enthusiasm permeating the entire enterprise. Book-Larsson also gives fans an update on the European closed beta, which has suffered a slight delay thanks to a pair of crucial networking components that were held up by EU customs. He notes that at least 25,000 testers will be needed when the EU servers are up and running, and "anyone already playing closed beta in the US can also play on the EU location, just for the heck of it."
[UPDATED] Enter to win one of 20 APB: Reloaded closed beta keys from Massively!
[Update: All winners have been chosen and contacted. Check your email, and congratulations to our winners!] Last week, the powers that be at GamersFirst gave us 100 closed beta keys for APB: Reloaded. We shared them with our readers, and they proved to be a hot commodity! The keys were gone in the blink of an eye, scooped up by those lucky enough to be around at the right moment. GamersFirst has given us one more batch of keys, and we decided to share the wealth a little more evenly this time! We've been passing them out on our Twitter and Facebook pages, but what if you missed those -- or worse yet, don't follow us on Twitter or Facebook? Take heart, because we've reserved 20 for one last giveaway! Leave a comment here letting us know what you are most looking forward to in the game. At 2:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 17th, we'll choose 20 comments and email each of those commenters a key for the next APB:Reloaded closed beta event. We're leaving the event up for 24 hours to give everyone a chance to participate regardless of his or her schedule, so hit that comment button and good luck! [Editor's note: We're thrilled to see so many of you coming out to snag a key! Just remember that in this and all other Massively threads, commenters are expected to abide by our site-wide code of conduct. Keep it clean, and good luck!]
GamersFirst hands out over 10,000 APB Reloaded closed beta invites
It's Christmas in March for a lot of former San Paro citizens rendered homeless by the demise of their favorite MMO. Yes, GamersFirst has cracked open the APB Reloaded beta door a bit further as of Tuesday afternoon according to a post on the free-to-play developer's official forums. "Today is your lucky day," reads the short message. "We're sending out 10,000 plus invites. Check your email (don't forget the spam box)." GamersFirst has been slowly but steadily ramping up the media assault for its reborn open-world shooter, and whether you're looking for videos, exclusive interviews, or beta key giveaways, Massively's got your back as you look to make the streets of San Paro your personal playground.
APB Reloaded keeps us up to date on development
It's always good to see a games company keep the lines of communication open in regard to an upcoming title. It's especially nice to see those frequent morsels of communication presented in an open and downright amusing fashion! The team behind All Points Bulletin: Reloaded is certainly managing to do just that, as we can see in its most recent update. According to none other than the COO/CTO for GamersFirst, Bjorn "TechMech" Book-Larsson, the team currently working on ABP: Reloaded has made a huge find in terms of server bugs. Apparently, the way the current in-game death camera is coded, the entire sector hits a lag spike -- or as he puts it, "take[s] a brief 100ms moment of silence" when a player is killed. This, in turn, causes a lot of the rubberbanding that players see on their end. Finding this bug means that the team is now hard at work on a fix, and Book-Larsson is hopeful that we may even see it released to closed beta players within a matter of days. If you're curious about the progress GamersFirst is making on APB: Reloaded, then be sure to head over and check out the newest blog post or go get signed up for closed beta! [Thanks, Connor!]
Check out APB: Reloaded with our closed beta key giveaway! [Updated]
Are you ready to see San Paro for yourself? The APB:Reloaded closed beta test is proceeding, the fixes are coming quickly, and GamersFirst is handing out more beta keys. More to the point, GamersFirst has given us 100 keys to hand out to our readers! Simply visit our beta key giveaway page to pick up your key, then sign up for a GamersFirst account or log in to your existing one. From there, enter your key on the beta application page and follow the instructions. Best of luck! [Update: GamersFirst has clarified that these keys are not closed beta keys but rather "keys to enter beta on the next wave which is coming here very, very, very soon." We ran out of the keys in less than two minutes (you guys are fast!) and GamersFirst has promised us another batch, so stay tuned!]
GDC 2011: Impressions of the conference and what 2011 will bring
The 2011 Game Developer's Conference is behind us, and as we all recover from sleep deprivation and carpal tunnel syndrome, we can't help but reflect on our overall impressions of the event. This year saw a more efficient conference with the show floor consolidated into one hall and the usual Career Pavillion, Game Career Seminar and Game Connection events set up to help job-seekers find their dream careers in game development. But for the games press, most of the action happens off-site, where studios and publishers rent conference rooms and hotel suites to show off their latest game demos and conduct interviews. So while GDC is nothing like your E3s and PAXes, it is a place to gather info and get a feel for what to expect in the coming year. Follow along after the jump to see what I thought of this year's MMO offerings.
GamersFirst shows off new APB Reloaded driving footage
News of San Paro is coming at a fast and furious clip now that APB Reloaded is officially toodling around in closed beta mode. Last week we hung out with GamersFirst at GDC and got the low-down on how the team is overhauling APB for its new free-to-play incarnation. Over the weekend, GamersFirst uploaded a new gameplay video to its YouTube portal, and the footage offers a glimpse of the driving tweaks that producer Jon-Enee Merriex told us about at GDC. The footage focuses on the Macchina Calabria vehicle in a hair-raising romp through the streets of San Paro. While this is still a beta build, APB's driving controls already seem to be quite a bit more refined than they were at release, and there's also the requisite mayhem on display in the form of collisions (both vehicle and pedestrian) and a tiny bit of shooting at the clip's conclusion. Check it out after the break and let us know what you think in the comments. [Thanks to Connor for the tip!]
GamersFirst looking to expand APB Reloaded closed beta
Things are ramping up in APB-land, and it's not just because GamersFirst has released its second dev blog of the week (as opposed to its traditional one-entry-per-week modus operandi over the past few months). Bjorn Book-Larsson writes that another 2500 souls have been admitted into the ongoing closed beta test, and thus far the GamersFirst hardware is holding its own under the new player onslaught. The beta test was approaching 1000 concurrent users as of Thursday afternoon, and though a few server restarts were required, the engineers have since nailed down a stable configuration that seems to be lag-free (aside from distance-related issues). Book-Larsson says that if all goes as planned, Friday evening will see another batch of invites, so keep an eye on your inboxes if you're itching to get back to San Paro. While you're waiting, check out our exclusive APB Reloaded GDC coverage or the recently released Vehicle Showcase video here or behind the cut.
GDC 2011: GamersFirst on resurrecting San Paro with APB Reloaded
It's not often that interesting game concepts are given a second chance after an ugly crash and burn, so naturally we jumped at the opportunity to talk to GamersFirst about its APB Reloaded reclamation project. If you're new to the MMO scene, or simply haven't been paying attention over the past year: Realtime Worlds' All Points Bulletin looked poised to bring a gritty, ultra-customizable cops-and-robbers shooter to MMO players everywhere. To say that a lot of people were looking forward to APB is something of an understatement (Massively even heralded it as our most anticipated title of 2010). The reality of the game was something of a downer, though, and while our own first impressions were disappointedly optimistic, other reviewers weren't as kind as the game went belly up along with its parent studio. Enter GamersFirst, a free-to-play outfit bent on salvaging the considerable potential of San Paro and transforming it from a buggy mess into a playable AAA MMO. Join us after the cut as we talk with producer Jon-Enee Merriex at GDC 2011 regarding the challenges inherent in the resurrection as well as some of the new (and newly functional) features APB fans can expect.
APB Reloaded welcomes first 2500 beta testers
The APB Reloaded blog has updated and there's good news in store for anxious fans looking to dive back into the city of San Paro. The initial wave of beta invites has officially been sent, and GamersFirst's Bjorn Book-Larsson informs us that the first batch was targeted at American players (primarily on the west coast) who met certain minimum requirements. Book-Larsson also notes a memory allocation issue that cropped up after the influx of players (approximately 2500 in this wave), but says that as long as the system remains reasonably stable, GamersFirst will begin inviting new players on a daily basis. "The current plan is to slowly increase the CCU count (simultaneously connected players) from a few hundred (what it is now) to just over 2,000 simultaneous players this week -- which means close to 20,000 actual invitees," Book-Larsson says.
APB: Reloaded closed beta application keys received a get-out-of-jail-free card
San Paro may be waiting for you again! The free-to-play publisher GamersFirst has sent out application keys for the forthcoming third-person shooter MMO APB: Reloaded. Fans have been anxiously awaiting the reopening of the game's crime-ridden streets since Realtime Worlds walled off the city. Yesterday, email messages poured into many an inbox asking players to fork over their computer specs for a chance to enter the closed beta. Check your email -- you may have one of the invitations waiting for you. Although there is a key to be redeemed, you will not qualify for an actual beta invite until the GamersFirst development team has had a chance to review and accept your application. If your inbox is like many gamers' inboxes, you will want to sift through every piece of mail you received yesterday and look for the one titled "Your Key to San Paro inside." You may even have to dig through your spam box. If you have not signed up for beta testing yet, jack a car and speed over to the Gamersfirst website now, yo! [Thank you tipsters for letting us know!]
APB blog talks beta applications, information security
Welcome back to the weekly APB Reloaded update. This time around, GamersFirst has a followup to last week's beta application deadline announcement. APB's beta application process is a bit different than the norm, and GamersFirst producer Jon "Neume" Merriex has penned a lengthy blog entry that aims to fill in the gaps. In addition to reviewing the game's beta key redemption process, the entry touches on the time-honored tradition of fudging your beta app in the hope of presenting a more appealing tester profile (and thus increasing your selection chances). "In the end, if you do fill out the form accurately and completely, we expect that the vast majority of beta applicants will in fact get closed beta access well before the roll out of the open beta," Merriex writes. Finally, this week's post spends a bit of time on your personal information, and more specifically, the sharing of it with third parties. In a nutshell, GamersFirst pledges to keep your email address, phone number, credit card number, and other valuable bits of data both secret and safe. Information sharing from beta participants "is always aggregated, such as '85% of our players are male between the ages of 18 and 25,'" Merriex says. Head to the official APB Reloaded blog for more specifics.
APB Reloaded beta gets over 100K registrations
GamersFirst says that more than 100,000 people have registered to play in the APB Reloaded beta, the reboot of the ill-fated Realtime Worlds MMO crime shooter from last year. That's not bad at all -- at its height, APB was hosting 130,000 registered users, and that was after its release and the press that came along with it. Of course, those 130K weren't able to keep the game or the studio afloat, but with nearly as many players eager for the beta as played the original game, it looks like there's some solid interest in the title returning. Of course, GamersFirst's version of the game will be free-to-play, and those games tend to out-populate their paid competition by leaps and bounds. Reloaded Productions, which is running the game for GamersFirst, says the beta registrations "far exceed the number of people [we] actually expected or even needed for the first Closed Beta," but says that only about half of the registrations will actually get into the beta, which will start at the end of this month.
APB Reloaded closed beta applications due by February 15th
The APB Reloaded blog has been a treasure trove of information and lengthy developer diatribes of late. We've gotten so used to the fact that Sundays normally bring a giant post from the guys at GamersFirst that it was something of a shock to see this week's relatively tiny entry. Said entry still contains important news though, particularly for those of you interested in jumping aboard the APB Reloaded closed beta train. According to the blog, you've got until midnight PST on Tuesday, February 15th to submit your application. The beta will be rolled out to three different regions: US-West, US-East, and Europe, each with "slightly different times." GamersFirst has tentatively scheduled the initial beta salvo for the week of February 28th, and has also reported that the number of registrants "will far exceed the number of people we actually expected or even needed for the first closed beta."
APB blog update outlines extensive game changes, new Asylum district
This week's APB Reloaded blog update is a big one, so big in fact that it required two devs to write it. GamersFirst CEO Bjorn Book-Larsson kicks things off with a look at the Asylum, a new area currently under development and slated to become San Paro's third play district. The Asylum will contain a variety of new game modes, and while the article is light on those particular details, it does feature a handful of screenshots showing off the locale's creepy confines. The meat of the blog entry comes courtesy of GamersFirst designer Zak "Qwentle" Littwin, who pens a lengthy missive focused on the major problems with APB's original incarnation (and consequently the major priorities for GamersFirst going forward). Littwin spends a good amount of time going over everything from the new mission and witnessing structure to changes involving APB's matchmaking and scoring systems. "While you can work out why you got what you did at the end of a mission, it's rather confusing. We want to make this score visible to players and highlight the amount of score you get when doing certain activities. We can then also increase the amount of benefit that score gives," Littwin says. Check out the full text at the APB Reloaded blog and have a look at the Asylum shots in our gallery below. %Gallery-115829%
GamersFirst talks APB core game changes
Fans of All Points Bulletin are in for a treat this week as GamersFirst has dropped a ton of new info about the game in its latest APB Reloaded blog entry. Zak "Qwentle" Littwin (former QA Lead at Realtime Worlds and current designer at GamersFirst) devotes a lot of virtual ink to APB's closed beta tweaks, and also hints at "much more extensive changes" in store for the game's open beta and release clients. Littwin teases a new game mode called Turf Wars as well as APB's first proper expansion which will feature a new district for the city of San Paro. First things first though; the meat of the blog entry concerns core gameplay adjustments that GamersFirst wishes to test in the closed beta. These include cheat detection (via Punkbuster as discussed last week), weapon modifications, and sweeping changes to the old game's progression curve. A few of the game's vehicles have also been modified. The original version of APB received a fair bit of criticism related to its driving mechanics, and GamersFirst is looking to rectify this in part by "giv[ing] each vehicle a lot of individual personality and specialisation and unique benefits, rather than everyone rushing straight to the Cisco/Bishada/Jericho/T25." Finally, Littwin touches on premium accounts and the challenge inherent in differentiating them from free-to-play services without unbalancing the game. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and read all about it at the official APB Reloaded blog.
New APB Reloaded dev blog outlines aimbot policies
This week's APB Reloaded dev blog is live, and GamersFirst CEO Bjorn Book-Larsson gives way to Aphadon, a former AI engineer on the Realtime Worlds version of APB who is currently overseeing the anti-cheat systems for the new incarnation of the game. Aphadon details the original implementation of PunkBuster in APB (and the performance and connection-related disasters that it caused for players in the beta), and states that it eventually was able to detect "every single commercially available aimbot." Due to the financial problems at Realtime Worlds, the APB team was never able to ban the thousands of cheaters that were identified in the original game. For chapter two, Aphadon states that the problems with PunkBuster have been ironed out, and anti-cheat measures will be enabled from the start of APB Reloaded's closed beta. GamersFirst is also planning a hard line approach when it comes to dealing with aimbotters. Aphadon says that first-time offenders will be immediately kicked and their accounts (and PCs) banned temporarily. A second offense will result in a permanent account and PC ban.
