Report: APB returning free-to-play in 2011

News by Patrick Garratt Founder & Publisher (Former)

Published on Nov. 16, 2010

IGN's reporting that GamersFirst's confirmed it's bought APB and will be bringing the RTW crime MMO back next year as a free-to-play effort.

According to the site, "APB is currently undergoing overhauls to make it ready for its second half of 2011 comeback. Its new owner loved several things about APB before it shut down, but is taking this time to turn it into 'a true free-to-play game,' according to Bjorn Book-Larsson, CTO and COO of GamersFirst."

It was rumoured last month that GamerFirst had bought the game from now-defunct Scottish developer RTW for £1.5 million.

APB went live at the end of June in the US and the beginning of July in Europe. RTW went into administration in August after laying off its MyWorld team.

Despite the lay-offs, RTW claimed it was "fully committed" to APB at the time.

The company rehired 23 staff following the announcement, with the intention of keeping MyWorld going until a buyer could be found.

It's been rumoured that an American firm is interested in the social project.

While searching for an APB buyer, RTW said the game had 130,000 registered users, and that the average spend per paying punter was $28 per month.