APB reborn as free-to-play title

One of the most destructive and unequivocal commercial failures of the modern games industry is being given a second chance.

APB, the 100 million white elephant that brought down Dundee studio Realtime Worlds, has today been confirmed as a new acquisition for the free-to-play evangelists GamersFirst.

A trusted source close to the deal has told Develop that the 1.5 million buyout price – originally appearing in a GamesIndustry.biz news report – has been greatly exaggerated”, and that the 100 million game was bought for less than 1 per cent of that dev budget.

GamersFirst declined to comment on the terms of the buyout, but in a wide-ranging interview confirmed that the game will be released early next year as a free-to-play title – the same information provided by Develop’s source.

Develop has a full interview with Book-Larsson – click here to take a look.