All Points Bulletin: Overview
All Points Bulletin (APB) places players in a fictional city where law enforcement and criminal elements collide in real time. As a player, you’re constantly a part of this struggle and fighting other real players. APB comes from the mind of David Jones, who is best known as the creator of Grand Theft Auto and promises a similar experience, on a massive scale.
In APB, players play either as Enforcement of Criminals. The criminals, not surprisingly set out to commit crimes such as car theft, heists, etc. Conversely, it is up to Enforcement players to thwart these crimes and catch the criminals.
This built in conflict funnels players into player vs. player (PvP) in a unique way. RTW is proud of how they’re game uses the players themselves as content in a fluid way. In most games, players either complete missions against the AI or fight. In APB, players will fight other players as part of their actual missions, something that has never been attempted on the kind of scale APB is set for.
The game also promises an unparalleled level of customization, both for the player characters and the cars they inhabit.
In 2002, Jones founded Real Time Worlds to develop this project and others. Unlike most independent start-ups, RTW chose to instead develop first a smaller, console game to lay the groundwork for their MMO. Crackdown was released for the Xbox 360 in 2007 to a strong critical reception and good sales.
In April 2008, RTW announced that it had secured $50 million in financing and used part of that to re-acquire complete control of their product. In 2005, they had announced a partnership with Korean MMO publisher Webzen to bring APB to market. The split was described by RTW as amicable.
APB is being developed in Dundee, Scotland and Boulder, Colorado. It due to enter testing in 2008 in advance of a 2009 launch.
