Free-to-play APB surpasses three million users

The remake of MMO All Points Bulletin: Reloaded has surpassed three million registered users since going free-to-play last Friday.

The $100 million game was re-released on Steam by MMO publisher GameFirst, and is currently ranked the 2nd most popular free-to-play title on the platform ahead of DC Universe, which also recently adopted the pay model.

"We recognised the potential for APB Reloaded to be a true breakout hit in the Free-to-play category all through beta testing," said GameFirst exec Rahul Sandil.

"We quickly amassed a vocal, dedicated community, and they’ve been instrumental in growing the game and helping better the experience."

He added: "Ultimately, players who discover a new free game decide if there’s enough value and quality to keep playing, and APB Reloaded’s trajectory tells us a growing number are being blown away by what they’re getting."

The free-to-play model has been increasingly adopted by triple-a studios for multiplayer games in the last year, with DC Universe turning to the pay model last month, and Valve’s Team Fortress 2 going free in June.

APB was originally released in July last year, and reportedly cost studio Realtime Worlds $100 million to develop.

The failure of the game at market brought down the Dundee studio, resulting in 200 jobs being lost, with the title taken offline just two months after release in September.

MMO publisher GameFirst acquired the title in November 2010, reportedly for less than one per cent of the total dev budget.