The main creator of the original "All Points Bulletin" first person shooter MMO is coming back to his creation, at least as an advisor. GamersFirst announced today that David Jones -- the founder of the game developer Realtime Worlds -- will be an advisor to GamersFirst" Reloaded Productions as the team prepares to relaunch APB later this year under the title "APB Reloaded".
Jones, who first gained fame as the co-founder of DMA Design (creators of the original Grand Theft Auto series) launched Realtime Worlds in Scotland in 2001. It"s main project was All Points Bulletin, an Unreal Engine-based urban themed first person shooter MMO. However, despite years of work and $100 million funded by investors the launch of APB in June 2010 became one of the biggest flops in game history. Within a few months, low sales and poor reviews forced Realtime Worlds to close and APB"s servers were shut down.
GamersFirst and its parent company K2 Network bought the rights and the assets to APB late in 2010 and its development team have been working to relaunch the game as a free-to-play title. APB Reloaded is in a closed beta test and is currently scheduled to launch its open beta on May 18, with the official launch planned for later this year.
Commenting on his role in APB Reloaded, Jones said, "This game was my passion back when I was developing it with Realtime Worlds, and I’m extremely excited to be able to participate in fulfilling the long term vision for the title."