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Mobile shooter APB: Retribution announced
Players wanting a little more shooter action while on the go will soon be able to jump into APB: Retribution, a top-down tactical shooter developed expressly for mobile devices. Not too much more is known about the game (like whether or not it is multiplayer let alone massive is any way) other than it is set in the same universe of the MMO APB: Reloaded. Retribution is the first step along the planned route of expanding beyond the main MMO. This project was completed in six months, and Blazing Griffin, working with Reloaded Productions, already has a spin off planned. APB: Retribution is slated to release for iOS devices this month.
GDC 2013: How APB exploded into a franchise
By now, pretty much everyone knows the story of how GamersFirst swept in to save the DOA All Points Bulletin by relaunching it as APB: Reloaded. Since then, the title's done immensely well for the company and has prompted Reloaded Games to look into turning APB into a bona fide franchise. How this happened was explained to us by PR Manager Darek Connole at GDC. Connole said that the devs are constantly taking suggestions from the community and sorting them into different buckets. While some of the buckets represent doable ideas, one bucket is full of great ideas that are impossible to implement in the current game. "We're taking the NPCs from APB: Reloaded and bringing them into their own game," Connole said. "It's going to be a traditional first-person shooter, but it's also going to have non-traditional elements." Read on to discover how APB's world is going to get a lot more crazy with APB: Vendetta -- and how the team is even thinking about future games in the same world.
APB Vendetta FPS turns to crowdfunding
Hey, guess what, it's another Kickstarter project based off an earlier game! This time, though the earlier game in question is still alive and presumably well. Reloaded Productions is looking to fund an action FPS called APB Vendetta that's some sort of riff on MMO shooter APB Reloaded. The project page mentions private servers and server-modding tools, "extreme movement mechanics," and a "fighting game ethos" as opposed to APB Reloaded's open-world design. The two games will share some sort of account-level crossover functionality with the potential to import and export certain items. The game will use the Unreal engine and the $300,000 funding goal will go toward creating a "separate dedicated development" and "expanding the APB universe." [Thanks Genobee!]
Exclusive interview with Hailan Rising's Adam Smith
Hailan Rising, an up-and-coming PvP title from Reloaded Productions, is currently in the screaming throes of open beta. It's always a fun time, especially for the development team, which is Producer Adam Smith was up for talking about how the game's coming along in these final weeks. Reloaded Productions is trying desperately to (what else) "wreck" the server by giving out prizes to the first three players to crash the game. Since destruction and mayhem are Massively's watchwords, we think you should help them out. Check out our interview with Adam Smith after the jump!
Hailan Rising enters open beta, invites players to break the server
Hailan Rising, a level-less, free-to-play, PvP-oriented MMO from Reloaded Productions, is entering open beta on February 21st at 1:00 p.m. EST. To celebrate the beta launch, the development team is challenging players to crash the game's servers. This "Wreck It Week" challenge will reward the first three players (as reported by the devs' monitoring tools) to crash the server with in-game currency, items, and other goodies. The third place prize will be 10,000 G1C, the in-game currency. Second prize will net one lucky player 20,000 G1C, which is valued at about $240 USD. The grand prize winner will receive 40,000 G1C, an epic in-game item, an original weapon named for their game-crashing character, and a QA acknowledgement in the game's credits. Winners will need to have a GamersFirst account in order to receive their winnings. In addition, all closed beta participants will receive 200 G1C. [Source: Reloaded Productions press release]
Massively Exclusive: Hailan Rising's devs on PvP, death, and player loot tables
Hailan Rising is more than halfway through its Kickstarter campaign with quite a long trek still to go for funding, but we took a good look at the game's description and really liked what we saw. It's a game that is labeling itself as "DAoC meets CoD" and being developed by some important industry vets. But as with any Kickstarter project, there are always questions. We see what's being promised with the game, but we want to know more. So we gathered together a few of our biggest concerns for the Reloaded Productions team to see what this thing is all about. As Kickstarter projects are still a dime a dozen these days, we want to know what sets the team's game apart from the rest. Follow along after the cut for our interview with Adam Smith and Jess Mulligan from Reloaded Productions.
Hailan Rising raises funds for 'love-child of DAoC and CoD'
MMO Kickstarter projects are coming out of the woodwork now, and each one has to sell its concept to would-be donors or else face possible extinction. Today's scrappy contender is Hailan Rising, the "love-child of Dark Age of Camelot and Call of Duty," according to the devs. Hailan Rising is a fantasy PvP MMO that ditches classes and levels for a more level (but not equal) playing field. It features instant action, strategic territory control, randomized loot, and over four billion possible character builds. The game is built on the Unity 3-D engine. The project is being worked on by a couple of MMO studio vets: Adam Smith (Knight Online) and Jess Mulligan (Asheron's Call, Ultima Online). Mulligan said he was attracted to the title's unique PvP mechanic, adding that "this is the fastest and most competitive PvP environment I've ever seen in an MMO." The team's Reloaded studio is looking to raise $275,000 to finish the game for a potential 2013 launch on Mac and PC. If the stretch goal is met, the developers are eyeing mobile platforms as well. Hailan Rising has been in development since 2010. [Additional source: Reloaded press release]
APB's Reloaded Games merges with parent company
Reloaded Games, the operator of the revived APB Reloaded, has merged with parent company K2 Network. The new company retained the Reloaded Games moniker and intends it to signify a move to running more cross-platform MMOs. This is a change from K2's old practice of merely importing Korean games. The new Reloaded Games covers both the GamersFirst platform (which includes, among other games, Fallen Earth) and Reloaded Productions studio. The studio will continue to be a subsidiary of the company. Reloaded Games CEO Bjorn Book-Larsson says that this is just the first sign of a bold new initiative by the company: "We have already signed contracts with independent developers to use our platform and portal for their free-to-play game distribution. We will announce those agreements in the next couple of weeks."
APB: Reloaded cracks into Steam's most-played games
Calling all cars -- all three million of them, even. Yes, that's how many players APB: Reloaded now claims, which allows the game to crack into the top ten games being played on Steam and places it second on the list of free games. That's definitely a big impression, one that couples nicely with the game's recent release of a boxed retail copy with several bonus items for first-time or existing players. According to Rahul Sandil, SVP of marketing and business development for GamersFirst, "[GamersFirst] recognized the potential for APB: Reloaded to be a true breakout hit in the Free2Play category all through beta testing." The game's new Fight Club gameplay mode hasn't hurt the game's popularity either, which is all pretty good for a game that originally set a record for its quick shutdown. The future of APB: Reloaded remains to be seen, but the present is certainly looking bright. [Source: GamersFirst press release]
GamersFirst announces acquisition of Fallen Earth with new F2P business model
After last month's announcement by GamersFirst that the company is taking over the hardware side of Fallen Earth, most of us made the obvious connection that the post-apocalyptic MMO would be heading into free-to-play territory. Even while hinting at it in a recent E3 interview, GamersFirst never really came out and said anything definitively. Well, it has now. Today, GamersFirst has given us the exclusive news that it will be taking over the operations of Fallen Earth immediately. Of course, following all other games in the GamersFirst library, Fallen Earth will also adopt a F2P business model. But what does this mean for the development of Fallen Earth? Will GamersFirst take over production and content design? Just how free will the game be? Follow along after the jump for answers to those questions and more.
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!
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 acquired by GamersFirst, relaunching as APB: Reloaded in the first half of 2011
The earlier reports are true: Reloaded Productions Inc., a subsidiary of GamersFirst -- which is, in turn, part of K2 Network -- has purchased the presumed-deceased MMO, APB, from its creator Realtime Worlds. The publisher plans to relaunch the game sometime in the first half of 2011 as APB: Reloaded, a free-to-play iteration utilizing the micro-transaction model. Come back later today for an interview with GamersFirst's COO and CTO, Bjorn Book-Larsson, for an answer to the most crucial question: Why?
