Realtime-Worlds
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APB has 130K registered players, high average playtime and revenue per user
Realtime Worlds as a company has been suffering from all kinds of problems lately, but how's the game doing? With a very short press release, the company (currently "in administration," which is the British version of bankruptcy) has announced that APB is hosting 130,000 registered players. That's actually not too bad for a brand new MMO -- while real population numbers are often hard to come by, the most recent estimates would have the game beating Star Trek Online's current active base. And STO has actually done pretty well, considering how tough it is to start up a new MMO. Realtime Worlds still isn't home and dry, though. At 130K players, APB is just barely doing better than Tabula Rasa at its peak, and we all know how well that turned out. And APB's model means player registrations isn't necessarily a sign of good health. While the press release claims that the average player is playing four hours a day and the average paying player is spending $28 a month, APB's unlimited free social hours and the ability to "spend" in-game points rather than real money could be twisting those figures upwards a bit. Our colleagues at Massively also point out that while Star Trek Online was created relatively cheaply, APB's creation was reportedly much messier and more costly. Still, with a dark cloud over the rest of Realtime Worlds' affairs, they might as well grab a silver lining where they can. If the company survives this launch, APB could have enough of a player base to make itself profitable.
Realtime Worlds re-hires 23 MyWorld employees
The saga of Realtime Worlds continues, this time with a happy ending for 23 employees of the MyWorld project that were laid off earlier this month. In a press release from business restructuring firm Begbies Traynor, administrator Ken Pattullo lays out the details. "As a smaller entity, MyWorld is attracting considerable interest from potential buyers and 23 members of the team who had been working on the project clearly add value to it as a standalone business," Patullo said. In addition to MyWorld, a platform for creating social games announced earlier this summer, Realtime Worlds will continue to operate All Points Bulletin even as it looks to finish restructuring with an eye towards creating a company that can support the urban crime MMOFPS.
European developers rally to help ex-Realtime Worlds employees
It's when things seem at their darkest when the true light and goodness of humanity can really shine through ... or something like that. Following APB developer Realtime Worlds' decision to go into administration -- and the 75 percent staff cut the studio was forced to undergo -- fellow game developers Codemasters, The Creative Assembly, Blitz Games Studios, Activision and Sony Europe have announced recruitment events in the coming weeks to help the displaced staff get back on its feet. There should be plenty of openings to go around for the 185 unemployed artists, writers and programmers -- Codemasters alone is reportedly looking for 150 new hires to fill its UK studios and The Creative Assembly is staffing up to work on an "unannounced AAA title" for Sega. Not to be outdone, Activision's also making a huge hiring push -- though these unfortunate souls will be relegated to the dance cages located in the foyer of Bobby Kotick's Miami-based "party palace." (Fine, we made that last part up. Please don't sue us.)
Realtime Worlds continues working toward recovery
News surrounding Realtime Worlds is coming at a rapid-fire pace these days, in a sometimes-confusing mix of dire and hopeful. Develop-Online reported a rumor earlier this week that RTW's North American office was closing, citing a "variety" of unnamed sources, but other events point to a potentially brighter outlook. Earlier this week we brought you the news that Realtime Worlds has entered administration, spurring Activision to send a recruitment team to Dundee. The good news in this is that the administration process will keep RTW on its feet -- and APB up and running -- until the company completes restructuring and finds a buyer for the game. APB's upcoming Patch 1.4.1 is another potential bright spot. The patch notes include a promise that "this isn't just another set of bug fixes; this is the beginning of some of the most fundamental changes to date." The patch brings new content and some gameplay changes, and also addresses several issues that were causing players a fair amount of grief. Will these efforts mean good things for Realtime Worlds? Keep an eye on Massively for future updates.
Realtime Worlds courting multiple buyers, staff reduced by 75%
As Realtime Worlds enters administration (read: dire straits), the ailing APB developer is reaching out to potential buyers "in both the UK and US," according to statements made by the company's administration consultant Begbies Traynor Group. "We are actively pursuing all these expressions of interest," Begbies Traynor joint administrator Paul Dounis told Edge. He also put a finer point on the staff count at the Dundee, Scotland and Boulder, Colorado offices, pinning the remaining employee number at just 67 in total out of an original 252 -- an approximately 75 percent reduction in staff. The studio apparently owes around £3 million ($4.6 million) to debtors in the UK. Dounis also pointed out that "The game [APB] will continue and that is something we want all customers to be aware of." Meanwhile, no one has mentioned what happened to that poor "Human Avatar" fella. He could be anywhere.
[Updated] Realtime Worlds enters administration
APB and Realtime Worlds have been receiving a fair amount of attention in the past few days, and it looks like they are about to get even more from another quarter. Gamesindustry.biz is reporting that Realtime Worlds is "entering administration," a legal process that essentially allows insolvent companies to continue operating while they try to recover. A third-party company, the Begbies-Traynor Group, will be involved to try to help RTW get back on its feet. What this means for the future of APB at this point is unclear. There hasn't been a statement regarding this development from anyone at Realtime Worlds, but we'll certainly keep watch for one. In the meantime, you can read the full story at Gamesindustry.biz. [Update: WorldsInMotion.biz is reporting that Activision has sent a team to Dundee to recruit Realtime Worlds staffers who have lost or may be losing their jobs.]
APB developer Realtime Worlds entering administration
Things weren't looking great for APB and Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds last week, as the company underwent some layoffs in the "Art, Audio, Coding, Design, Production, and QA departments." According to GamesIndustry, things didn't improve over the weekend: Realtime Worlds is reportedly entering administration, a status somewhat similar to a U.S. company's decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Scottish developer has named the Begbies Traynor Group as its administrator -- a third-party who attempts to rescue an insolvent company while still acting in the interests of its creditors. Much like with bankruptcy, this move isn't exactly a nail in the developer's coffin, but it could mean some radical reorganization is right around the corner.
Rumor: Realtime Worlds lays off MyWorld team, reduces APB team size
APB developer Realtime Worlds may be laying off the entire Project: MyWorld team, according to reports from VG247 and Develop, with sources also alleging the dissolution of RTW entirely. One source apparently told VG247 that "The MyWorld team has been completely laid off. As many as 60 may have gone, but there's a rumor they may be trying to sell the team as a smaller entity." VG247 also alleges that "the Scottish developer is seeking to sell on APB entirely." In early July, RTW announced forthcoming "redundancies" at its Dundee studio, specifically referencing a "second, unannounced project" -- now known to be Project: MyWorld. In a statement offered to Joystiq this morning, RTW echoed that earlier announcement: "Further to the press release issued on the 7th July announcing the post-launch restructure for APB and expected redundancies, the 30-day consultation period with the affected staff has ended. The supporting infrastructure for a game inevitably changes once released, and those staff that couldn't be redeployed to new projects in the Art, Audio, Coding, Design, Production, and QA departments have regrettably been made redundant. APB continues to be our primary development focus, and we remain fully committed to the game and its players." No specific numbers were given. Realtime Worlds refused to comment on rumors of a full-studio closure or the possibility of APB being sold off. If you're an employee of RTW with more information, we'd love to hear from you.
Rumor: Realtime Worlds lays off staff, puts APB up for sale [Updated]
Tweet var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Rumor_Realtime_Worlds_lays_off_staff_puts_APB_up_for_sale'; One of the most recent MMOs to hit the market is already in deep trouble, according to multiple reports popping up over the internet. According to unconfirmed rumors, Realtime Worlds has fired the entirety of its MyWorld team, made drastic cuts and layoffs elsewhere, and might be putting APB up for sale. Announced last month, MyWorld was to be a social gaming experience scheduled for a 2011 launch. If these rumors are true, then Realtime Worlds is mired in financial trouble and is scrambling to keep from going under. A VG247 source reported, "As of 11:30 GMT Realtime Worlds have put a large proportion on their workforce on gardening leave ranging from 4-8 weeks. APB's staff will be reduced to admin and a skeleton staff of devs and artists to keep it running and do general updates, but this looks like the end of RTW." A developer on the APB European forums briefly addressed the situation by saying, "As we''ve announced we had to restructure the company to make it so that we can focus totally on APB. APB is still going strong and we fully intend to support 100%." We do know that Realtime Worlds fired several employees last month in an effort to restructure the company. Massively has contacted Realtime Worlds for comment, and we will update you as soon as we hear anything. [Update: Realtime Worlds has issued a statement confirming that some MyWorld employees, though not all, have been made "redundant," but that APB itself remains intact. "APB continues to be our primary development focus, and we remain fully committed to the game and its players." According to 1UP, Colin Macdonald emphasized that Realtime Worlds has "got the whole team working on making APB as good as it can be. It's a shame things haven't turned out the way we had envisaged them, but then the beauty of online gaming is that we can address problems and keep on improving experiences. We're completely behind APB, it's got huge potential, and we'll continue to make new content for it." Stay tuned for more updates!]
APB weapon and mission changes incoming
All Points Bulletin's 1.3.1 patch is nearly upon us, and the forthcoming update will bring about significant changes to both weapons and missions. The patch, currently scheduled for August 10th, addresses problems with continuous, full auto-fire on both the N-Tec and the OCA-EW automatic weapons. Each gun has had its base accuracy lowered in addition to several other balance-related tweaks. Realtime Worlds' lead system designer JerichoNA, posting on the official forums, pre-emptively addresses concerns players might have regarding the testing and implementation of weapon tweaks such as these. "It''s not simply as a concession to people raising concerns on the forums. When weapon balance issues come up, we correlate these with feedback from our QA department and from team members who play regularly on the live service," he writes. In addition to the weapon tweaks, criminal vs. criminal matchmaking has been disabled, as have been system-generated bounties. The full patch notes will be available this Tuesday. In the meantime, check out the details on the official forums.
APB's Human Avatar project is complete
Josh the Free Runner is loose on the streets of San Paro. Early in July, APB introduced The Human Avatar, a project designed to show off one of the game's most promoted features: character customization. Realtime Worlds describes APB's customization options as "almost limitless," and what better way to show that off than to take a real person, let fans give him a full makeover, and turn him into an in-game avatar? Fans voted for Josh, a Free Runner from London, and subsequent votes gave him a startling transformation. Josh got a new hairstyle, snout ring, tattoo, steampunk-inspired clothing, and finally a new doppelganger in the form of an identical APB avatar. Take a look at the results in the video after the jump, and check out the Human Avatar site to see the entire project.
Realtime Worlds reveals Project: MyWorld [update]
Realtime Worlds just released APB, but it's already hard at work on its next huge project, which appears to be a ... real-time world. "Project: MyWorld," which RTW expects to release "early next year," is a social platform based on a detailed model of the Earth. Players can build structures in a virtual version of real space, and open those spaces up to interaction with friends. The teaser trailer (after the break) shows one user commenting about a "fishing game" in a structure, for example. The trailer also suggests a number of ways to interact with the real world from within MyWorld, with Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Google, and Loopt integration shown. "What would it look like if Nintendo built Google Earth?" the website asks. It wouldn't have this much online functionality, that's for sure. Update: Realtime Worlds clarified to us that MyWorld isn't in itself a game, but is instead a platform for game developers to create new social games. It's not a consumer-level product.
APB turns handsome gentleman into human avatar
We really hope that Realtime Worlds' living APB avatar, Josh, is getting paid quite a few duckets, as he's not only getting the future-punk rocker haircut of an in-game character, but also a septum piercing, not to mention two giant wings tattooed on his back. He's being called "The Human Avatar," and, well, he's a living advertisement. Fans of the game (and generally folks with cruel hearts) have been voting on various stages of the gentleman's development over the past few weeks at the project's official website. At this point, all but the final stage has been completed: clothing. Apparently, Josh will be donning a steampunk outfit. And you know, we're okay with the outfit. Heck, we're even okay with the piercing. It's the life-altering, less than easy to remove tattoos on his back that seem like the bigger issue here. Hopefully Realtime's paying him enough to get them removed (with lasers!) after all this madness is over with.
One Shots: Kilroy was (not) here
If you're fighting your way through Realtime Worlds' shiny new MMO, All Points Bulletin, and seek to stake your claim on a particular area, one of the ways you can let rival gang members (and police) know is by tagging signs around town. However, if you're trying to do it by yourself on a heavily populated map, it's a great way to wind up dead. After all, anyone can come along and shoot you while you're busy "spraypainting" your graffiti up. Today, we have a screenshot of a pair who managed to find an open spot and successfully pull off getting their design in place. This image comes to us courtesy of Brad, also known as Nemesis on the Zombie server, who writes in: "This screenshot was taken after a long shoot out in the waterfront district. A fellow clan member and I held out on a rooftop and happened upon a blank billboard. We decided that the waterfront district needed to know who we were." One Shots needs more screenshots! If you're playing an MMO -- from large to small -- we'd love to see one from you. All you have to do is email a screenshot to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post it out here and give you the credit. %Gallery-85937%
APB to overhaul driving and combat
"We're looking at almost every aspect of combat - how it looks, feels and sounds, as well as weapon characteristics and tactics," proclaims Realtime Worlds spokesman Neil Castle in a refreshingly frank post on All Points Bulletin's official website. The post certainly says all the right things regarding upcoming tweaks to the newly released urban crime MMOFPS. Whether Realtime Worlds can make good on the lengthy list of updates and reverse some of the negative buzz generated by less than favorable launch reviews will bear watching over the next few months. Castle's post touches on a number of complaints that various reviewers and gamers have had with the new title, from sloppy vehicle handling, to catching and punishing cheaters, to the addition of new rulesets and matchmaking functionality. "It's our goal to involve the community as much as is practical when tackling most of these areas - as we''ve said all along, and hopefully demonstrated throughout beta, RTW's goal is to grow APB into the game that its players want it to be," Castle says.
Upcoming APB updates and changes outlined
Though Realtime Worlds' pseudo-MMO crime sim APB is still relatively hot off the presses, it doesn't look like the developer plans on letting the title languish. The game's official site was recently updated with a blog post outlining the studio's post-launch plans for the title -- a laundry list which includes lofty objectives such as enacting stronger countermeasures against cheaters and campers, and improving the handling of the game's guns and automobiles. Check out APB's blog to see all the changes Realtime Worlds hopes to implement. We'd personally like to see the addition of a third faction: Bystanders. Think about it! You wouldn't do any actual fighting, but rather, would have to conduct your mundane day-to-day business while avoiding everyone else's scuffles. Also, you can't make any of your own clothes. You shop at the Gap, just like all the other Bystanders.
One Shots: Bet you didn't see this coming
One of the things you're guaranteed to see with any high-powered character creator is characters from known worlds, costumes, or other things we recognize zooming around. Then there are cases like today's All Points Bulletin One Shots, where we get a fun mashup of different things we may know and love. This image comes to us from Crabtree on the Zombie server, who writes in to explain the spectacular Mod-Squad(ish)-meets-Star-Trek image we see above: "A handful of my friends and I have been enjoying APB thus far, despite some of the negative things that can be said about the game. Above all, it has delivered some amazing creation and customization tools, and we simply haven't been able to pass up the opportunity to create some iconic characters using custom full-body tattoos and/or clothing. Among some of our creations are imitations of Deadpool, Waldo (Where is...?), and most recently a group of Star Trek: The Next Generation characters, equipped with their very own Enterprise Star Truk. We have wondered if our creations might stir up some copyright concerns, but we figure the hilarity and recognition is worth the risk." If you've pulled off a creative mashup thanks to a high-powered character creator in your favorite MMO, we'd love to see what you dreamed up. Send those screenshots in to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post them out here and give you the credit for sending it in! %Gallery-85937%
Review: APB (Day 4: Cards on the table)
Review Diary Day 1: Welcome to San Paro Day 2: Enforcers, get enforcin' Day 3: Choose your illusion Day 4: Cards on the table This is the final part of a four-day review diary about the first MMO from developers Realtime Worlds, APB. One of the hardest parts about reviewing an MMO is that the genre takes full advantage of being online and persistent. Because players need to log in to an updated client every time, developers can quickly and relatively easily push out new bugfixes and content with regularity. Realtime Worlds has already released one patch post-release for APB, and while I've talked about certain issues with repetitive gameplay and earning customization levels, both of those issues can be fixed with updates if the developers choose to do so. So the final question in reviewing an MMO isn't necessarily if you should buy this game today or not. It's: Does the game offer enough promise to invest your time and attention? Future plans included, out of all the games you could spend your free time on, is APB capable of rewarding that investment with a quality experience?
Review: APB (Day 3: Choose your illusion)
Review Diary Day 1: Welcome to San Paro Day 2: Enforcers, get enforcin' Day 3: Choose your illusion Day 4: Cards on the table This is part three of our four-part APB review. Today: Customization and clans in the game's Social District. Yesterday, I examined APB's core gameplay, and while I found it lacking, I hoped it could at least in part be made up for by the incredibly detailed customization system. With a series of in-game editors and marketplaces, you can personalize every aspect of your character, from what you wear and carry, to custom-designed vehicles and even hand-crafted signature killing tunes. I spent about one-quarter of my game time hanging out in APB's Social District (a non-combat, free-to-play section of the game), trying to create some new clothing, shop the game's marketplace, and build some colorful wheels. Unfortunately, while APB's editors allow for a lot of creativity, Realtime Worlds hasn't implemented many ways to reward it.
Review: APB (Day 2: Enforcers, get enforcin')
Review Diary Day 1: Welcome to San Paro Day 2: Enforcers, get enforcin' Day 3: Choose your illusion Day 4: Cards on the table This is part two of a four-part review of Realtime Worlds' new MMO APB. Yesterday, I talked about installing the game and creating a character. Today: the grind. Life in San Paro is pretty simple. Rob as a Criminal, or stop Criminals as an Enforcer. I chose to be an Enforcer, and after a short tutorial level, fell into the standard MMO grind -- go here, pick this up, go there, rinse and repeat. Unlike most MMOs, APB plays like a shooter -- there's a reticule, and you've got to line it up on your target to get anything done. But its "missions" are definitely MMO fare -- they're standard, multi-step and pretty interchangeable: hold this point, deliver this item, steal this car. But here's how APB sets itself apart: while you play the game, you're constantly being offered missions and being grouped with people on the same job, but the other side is getting offers too. When they're paired up in the same mission you are, an APB goes out, sirens flash on the screen, and then it's on, one faction against another. %Gallery-65497%
