APB: All Points Bulletin (2010, PC) was an MMO shooter that involved huge amounts of money in its development. The game was supposed to reinvent the “online shooter” genre as a sandbox game. In the end, however, it became one of the biggest flops in gaming history.
What kind of game is APB: All Points Bulletin? APB: All Points Bulletin was released in 2010 and was an MMO shooter with a real-time game world.
Two factions were at the center, with players able to choose a side:
- Enforcers, who upheld the law
- Criminals, who engaged in illegal activities
There were missions where both sides fought each other. The player had to complete tasks while the opponents attempted to stop them.
Here you can see a trailer for APB: All Points Bulletin:
Who is behind the development of APB: All Points Bulletin? In 2002, the creator of the Grand Theft Auto series, David Jones, founded the game studio Realtime Worlds.
Crackdown was the studio’s first game and was released in 2007. The player took on the role of an agent with superhuman abilities due to biological enhancements, combating crime in a futuristic city.
The studio was able to build on the success of Crackdown and approached the development of a new game with more budget and a larger team: APB: All Points Bulletin.
“The development costs amounted to over 100 million dollars, making it one of the most expensive video games in history”
The development of the game took 5 years. In addition to its own funds, the studio was able to secure significant investor sums.
What was APB: All Points Bulletin supposed to offer the player? APB was announced in 2005, with a release planned for 2008. The game studio aimed to uniquely renew the “online shooter in a sandbox” genre with this game.
The game promised a massive world with extensive content and allowed players to customize their characters in numerous ways.
Character design was one of the main focuses of the APB developers. At the same time, grinding was intended to be perceived not as a task but as fun gameplay.
What caused APB: All Points Bulletin to fail? The game launched 2 years late in 2010. It followed with criticism from players:
- First and foremost, the shooting gameplay and the use of vehicles were criticized.
- Actions in the game felt unfluid, and the game responded sluggishly at times.
- There were also issues with matchmaking.
Many felt that the game needed more time in development.
Here you can find the English video from GVMERS about APB: All Points Bulletin, which tells the background story of APB-All Points Bulletin:
Too much money and too high expectations
What could have caused the internal failure? Among other things, the studio cited the following issues: According to a former employee, the problems in the gameplay were known to the developers. Beta testers had already pointed out the difficulties in the game, which were not addressed. They relied more on David Jones’s assessment than on external feedback.
An interesting problem was raised by Nicholas Lovell. The business blogger from Gamesbrief argued that too much money was available and nobody knew how to use it effectively. A problem that many startups with high financial means may have faced (via the guardian.com).
The expectations for APB were high, and everyone expected a worthy successor in the style of GTA. Aspects that, according to David Jones, ultimately led to false impressions and high demands (via eurogamer.net)
How was APB: All Points Bulletin and its remake rated by players? On metacritic, the game has a user score of 5.7 (10 is the highest score).
Since the rating also includes comments made after the server shutdown of APB: All Points Bulletin, they likely refer to the remake and not solely the original game.
The APB games seem to be polarizing. Of the total 294 ratings, only 28 are mixed. 126 ratings are negative and 140 positive:
The user TonyJ wrote on June 30, 2010: “It really has the potential to be a great game. The customization options are ridiculous. Last night I crafted a piece of clothing that looks exactly like what they sell in my college bookstore. Right now there are still some bugs, especially performance issues. It seems that [the performance of your system] has no impact on whether you can run the game correctly or not. RTW says they are working on the problem, but it has been known for a few weeks. The gameplay is fun. Driving an ambulance and running over opponents while your friends dangle out of the windows and doors gets the blood pumping.”
On the other hand, criticism was voiced by MikeP on June 29, 2010: “This is a terrible game. The driving, which I was looking forward to the most, is so sloppy and responds so poorly that it feels like steering a brick on a tricycle. This game was a huge disappointment, and I wish I hadn’t wasted my money. There’s a reason there are no reviews yet.”
The Legacy of APB: All Points Bulletin
What happened to the game studio Realtime Worlds? With the flop of APB: All Points Bulletin, the game studio of David Jones also descended.
Employees were laid off, and the upcoming project was canceled – the game studio went bankrupt. Allegedly, there were issues with paying salaries (via gamedeveloper.com).
On September 23, 2010, APB: All Points Bulletin went offline. APB was taken over by publisher K2 Network, who had also been responsible for “War Rock” (via eurogamer.net).
On the APB website, it states: “The development costs amounted to over 100 million dollars [approximately 98 million euros], making it one of the most expensive video games in history.” (via apb.com)
What happened to APB: All Points Bulletin? Under K2 Network and the production company Reloaded Productions came the remake titled APB: Reloaded.
David Jones advised the project. APB: Reloaded also failed to meet Jones’s high expectations but was more successful than its predecessor.
In 2019, Unit Game purchased the copyright from APB. According to the APB website, Unit Game had plans for the development of further APB games.
Did you know APB: All Points Bulletin? Let us know in the comments.
If you’re interested in GTA, you can read what a leak reveals about GTA 6.
