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APB To Close Mere Months After Launch

APB, the action MMO created by Realtime Worlds and launched at the end of June, will soon be closing its doors. The game was very expensive to make, and news of the studio's financial difficulties has been circulating in the wake of disappointing sales numbers and reviews. Today, less than three months after the servers went live, community officer Ben Bateman announced that service will be discontinued shortly. One of the developers said, "In every way APB was a dichotomy. I have witnessed the project alter from a fragile and delicate entity used to show the world the depth of our vision through to the sturdy beast we released to the public. There were the unusual errors and crashes which are to be expected, but it worked. Once in the hands of our community I have never seen something elicit such a polarization of people. It was dismissed as overhyped and broken or else taken to heart to be loved and cherished, buoyed on by a fanaticism I was proud to have played a part in bringing to the world."

3 of 185 comments (clear)

  1. Woah, math by Locke2005 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think you mean $5,000,000 per year, which is much less than the $48 million a year some have suggested they were pulling in.

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  2. Re:Woah, economics by Haffner · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Probably the executive level guys did the math, and found out that between maintenance staff and servers, there wasn't a whole lot of extra cash that could go towards paying their 200k+ salaries, and decided it would be better to give themselves a nice bonus than to continue with the game.

    --
    "Going to war without the French is like going deer hunting without your accordion." ~General Norman Schwarzkopf
  3. Full acountability by psyph3r · · Score: 4, Insightful

    At least they can't blame this one on piracy.