How a €98M+ MMO shooter became one of the biggest flops in gaming history
APB: All Points Bulletin (2010, PC) was an MMO shooter that received huge amounts of money to develop. The game was intended to reinvent the online shooter genre as a sandbox game. However, it ended up being one of the biggest flops in gaming history.
What is APB: All Points Bulletin for a game? APB: All Points Bulletin was released in 2010 and was an MMO shooter with a real-time game world.
The focus was on two factions, with players able to choose a side:
- Enforcers who worked for the law
- Criminals (in German: criminals) who committed unlawful acts
There were missions where both parties fought each other. The player had to complete tasks while opponents tried to stop him from doing so.
Who is behind the development of APB: All Points Bulletin? In 2002, the creator of the game series Grand Theft Auto (short: GTA) David Jones founded the game studio Realtime Worlds.
Crackdown was the studio’s first game, released in 2007. The player took on the role of an agent with superhuman abilities thanks to biological enhancements fighting crime in a futuristic city.
The game studio was able to build on the success of Crackdown and with a larger budget and team approached the development of a new game: APB: All Points Bulletin.
Here you can find GVMERS’ English video of APB: All Points Bulletin, which tells the background story of APB-All Points Bulletin:
“It cost over $100 million to develop, making it one of the most expensive video games in history”
The game took 5 years to develop. In addition to its own funds, the studio was able to get hold of enormous sums of investors.
What should APB: All Points Bulletin offer the player? In 2005, APB was announced and the release was planned for 2008. The game studio intended the game to reinvent the online shooter genre in a unique way.
The game promised a massive world with rich content and players could customize their character with numerous options.
The design of the avatar was one of the main areas that the developers of APB focused on. At the same time, grinding should not be perceived as a task, but as fun gameplay.
“Sandbox” means games that give the player enormous freedom and let him do it – without a lot of quests or a campaign. The player should occupy himself “in the sandbox” and live out his creativity. Well-known sandbox games are Minecraft, The Sims, Mount & Blade or GTA 5 Online.
Why did APB: All Points Bulletin fail? The game launched 2 years late in 2010. This was followed by criticism from the players:
- The shooting gameplay and the use of vehicles were primarily criticized.
- Actions in the game didn’t feel smooth and the game was lagging at times.
- There were also problems with matchmaking.
Many felt the game would have taken longer to develop.
Too much money and too high expectations
What could have caused the failure internally? Among other things, the following problems were mentioned by the studio: According to a former employee, the gameplay problems were known to the developers. Beta testers have already pointed out the difficulties in the game, which have not been resolved. One would have trusted David Jones’ assessment more than external feedback.
An interesting problem was raised by Nicholas Lovell. The Gamesbrief business blogger said there was too much money available and no one knew how to use it effectively. A problem that several start-ups with high financial resources would have had (via the guardian.com).
The demands on APB were high and everyone expected a worthy successor in the style of GTA. Aspects which, according to David Jones, would have led to misconceptions and high demands in retrospect (via eurogamer.net)
The Legacy of APB: All Points Bulletin
What became of the game studio Realtime Worlds? With the flop of APB: All Points Bulletin, David Jones’ gaming studio also went downhill.
Employees were laid off and the upcoming project canceled – the game studio was bankrupt. Allegedly, there were problems paying the salaries (via gamedeveloper.com).
On September 23, 2010, APB: All Points Bulletin went offline. APB was acquired by publisher K2 Network, who also helmed War Rock (via eurogamer.net).
According to APB’s website, “The development cost was over $100 million [umgerechnet etwa 98 Millionen Euro]making it one of the most expensive video games in history.” (via apb.com)
What became of the APB: All Points Bulletin? Under K2 Network and production company Reloaded Productions came the remake titled APB: Reloaded.
David Jones advised on the project. APB: Reloaded also failed to meet Jones’ high expectations, but was more successful than its predecessor.
In 2019, Unit Game bought the copyright from APB. According to the apb website, Unit Game has plans to develop more APB games.
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If you’re interested in GTA, you can read what an insider report reveals about GTA 6.
Reference-mein-mmo.de