APB was released last year on this date and this calls for a celebration. Reloaded Productions, the wholly-owned creative development studio of Reloaded Games, announced this news today.

They praised the game a lot and call it a “legendary among online games”. It has outperformed other games like Star Trek Online, Age of Empires Online, LOTRO and DC Universe. Not sure that is a great achivement but it’s their birthday so I’ll shut up for now.

Players logging in from now till Dec 9th will get a free Cigar and “Celebrate” emote for every character that logs in. One of the hottest weapons in the game, the ATAC 424 NCFP 3, is also being discounted for a very limited time.

“We want to thank our player community and our friends at Steam for all the support and love they have shown APB Reloaded for the last year,” said Rahul Sandil, Chief Marketing Officer for Reloaded Games.

“With over 3 million downloads delivered, APB has established itself as one of the hottest game franchises in the online games industry. Over the next few days we will be making other exciting announcements about the expansion of the APB Franchise, so stay tuned.”

We reviewed the game, which you can check out here. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Gamers First has announced that the APB: Reloaded Open Beta (play now), has got quite a few downloads in fact around 24,000 to be exact after the beta was opened to the public just a few days ago.  They stated the average player spent at least 3 hours in one session, which if they didn’t hold back on the character creation for the beta could have taken up that much time alone, well not quite.  The Beta is apparently much more popular in the UK with four times the downloads, but I am in the U.S. and think the game looks great so far.  In fact if this GTA style MMO managed to make it to consoles, one word.. MONEY.

Who are you?

The APB Open Beta is now ready to roll.  Just make sure you have a GamersFirst account and your computer isn’t a piece of shit.  So get to it, because I am loving it, it is like GTA on acid.  Create an account download the Gamers First software, install then pick the APB Reloaded Beta to download.  Happy killing.

There was a recent closed beta for APB Reloaded (APB = All Points Bulletin) and the Grand Theft Auto type of MMO is not just back but an open beta has been announced with fixes made from the closed beta.     The game even has David Jones who previously worked on Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown on the team for the game.  He has said “After seeing what the team has done with the game thus far, I’m certain that APB Reloaded will become the title that truly breaks new ground for online game experiences, especially with transition to a free-to-play model.”

The open beta for APB will begin on May 18th, 2011 and will have credit bonuses for players from the original game, new items, Character Restorations and a “radical solution” to keep away cheaters.  No guarantees, but signing up for the newsletter is your best bet to get into the beta right now.. so what are you waiting for? Get to it now right here.  It also helps to have a GamersFirst account as well.  More info coming straight from E3 this year so stay tuned!  Hopefully we might see the game come to consoles, but who knows.

Homepage/Blog – Source

In APB you will be able to migrate your former RTW character into APB Reloaded.  In fact those who are participating in the closed beta can to that right now.  You can bring your old characters tattoos and everything just the way you had them back to the streets of San Paro.  You can get to restoring your character at this link right here now, but below is a step by step guide on how to do it.

We have enabled Character Restorations for all APB Reloaded Closed Beta participants that had RTW characters. This process will restore many aspects of your old APB Characters. Below is an brief outline of the process:

• Players log in with the G1 Account they want to migrate the character TO.
  • A check is done to see if they have an open character slot on their G1 account.
    • If a player doesn’t have enough slots they will be prompted to purchase additional slots or delete a character.
    • If they decide to purchase additional slots they will be taken to a special web version of the Armas Marketplace.
      • If they decide to delete a character the process is suspended and must be started again from the beginning.
• Players log in with the RTW account they want to migrate the character FROM.
• Players select which world they want to migrate the character FROM.
• Players select which world they want to migrate the character TO.
  • A check is done to see if the character’s name is taken on the selected world.
    • If it is, the character must be renamed.
• The character is migrated and player is asked if they’d like to migrate another character.

It is important to note that not everything your RTW character had will be restored. The main items being restored are clothing and symbols. Please understand that no progression, APB$, RTW Points, Action Time, weapons or vehicles will be restored. Finally, due to an unforeseeable issue only 2 outfits are being restored. Any symbols and clothing items used in other outfits will still exist on your character, but the outfits themselves will not be accessible.

Official Forums

Scotland developer ‘Realtime Worlds’ was able to quickly create the core game before the big APB (All Points Bulletin) shutdown.  The new APB with ‘Reloaded’ on the the end of it has now been picked up by developer GamersFirst, who is now opening a new studio in Edinburgh, Scotland just for the game. Apparently I was not the only one who though APB was awesome as the new studio called ‘Reloaded Productions’ has job opening and hopes to bring this title back on it’s feet. I cannot speak for the rest of the GamingBolt team, but I saw some amazing potential in this IP and hope it comes back.  Nothing is concrete yet but, all this would should not be for nothing and console support would be an amazing edition. There is even a closed beta for the game, here is a APB Reloaded Blog link to keep you updated.

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Having suffered an awkward and early demise, online open world crime shooter All Points Bulletin is being revived as a free to play online game going under the name of APB: Reloaded.

The application for the first closed beta of the new game is already over with nearly one hundred thousand people applying throughout the US and Europe. The beta is set to really start up on February 28^th, so we can only find out then if the game will surpass the original APB.

Thanks to APB: Reloaded blog for the info.

Epic Games has been rumored to be a potential buyer of the APB franchise with the game going up for sale according to a BBC report.

Dave Jones from Realtime Worlds made this statement regarding the issue:

“I truly wish we had the chance to continue to craft APB into the vision we had for it. It has been a long & difficult journey but ultimately rewarding to have had the chance to try something bold and different. APB holds some great memories, from the last night of the beta, to the clans and individuals who amazed us with their creativity and sense of community. I am so sorry it had to end so quickly but hopefully the good memories will stay with us all for a long time. Thanks to all the team for the years of hard work, and to the players who contributed so much.”

• Core 2 Duo 2Ghz or equivalent
• 2GB RAM (3GB for Vista64 / Windows 7 64)
• nVidia GeForce 7800 – 256MB or equivalent
• 20GB Hard disk space
• Headset and microphone recommended.
• Broadband internet connection required.

And here is the new FAQ which you can find on the official APB website:

What is APB (All Points Bulletin) and why should I be interested?

Imagine a living breathing city, but for the first time ever it’s online with streets full of vehicles and thousands of civilians going about their daily life.

Introduce 100 players to this online city. Their mission is to gain fame and fortune, and gain them fast. Many will take to a life of crime, feeding on the city, its people and its businesses. Other players, the Enforcers, will feed on the Criminal players. What will the outcome be?

The great thing is, we don’t know! It’s an online sandbox. Many players will achieve celebrity or notoriety for their skills or style. Alliances will be formed, rivalries will be bitter. One thing we do know: every player will be unique. Thanks to cutting-edge technology, players can personalize their looks, clothing, vehicles and music.

How big is the game world? And how many people fit on one server?

Each game world – or server – holds up to 100,000 players. These players will be playing on district maps which hold up to 100 players per action districts and 250 players per social districts. Each world has hundreds of these instanced district maps, so although any single action district has a 100-player limit, there is no limit to the number of other players you might encounter.

For the individual players who top the leagues, their characters will become famous across the whole world, not just one district. APB is a brand new gaming concept where the players are the game, in a world full of innovative tools and game play.

Is APB an MMO?

APB is entirely online and multiplayer however, it’s a unique game unlike other MMOs out there. The game runs on fast, high-quality dedicated servers allowing you to enter cities and engage in a new style of game where your actions bring you into opposition with other players dynamically: there’s no waiting in lobbies. You can encounter thousands of other players over a short period of time. Our dynamic matchmaking allows solo and group play in missions, against – or with – real people, never an AI. We’re still working out how to describe that in a three letter acronym… Suggestions are welcome.

How much will APB cost?

You can purchase a retail version of APB either in-store or via digital download at standard retail price (SRP $49.99/£34.99/€49.99). The game includes 50 hours of action game play out of the box plus unlimited time in APB’s social districts customizing, socializing and trading on the marketplace.

Once your game time is up, you have flexibility to top up your action game time from as little as $6.99 (£5.59, €6.29) for an additional 20 hours, while more frequent players can switch to a 30-day unlimited package for only $9.99 (£7.99, €8.99) with discounts available for 90 and 180 days.

The retail package also contains a bonus 100 RTW points towards your next purchases.

An additional benefit to this evolutionary model is the ability for you to convert your own customizations and rewards to tradable products to give to friends or clan-mates or to place on the Marketplace to earn more RTW points (convertible to game time) or in-game cash. Check back later for more details.

Check out the full FAQ in the link above.

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Dave Jones ,the creative director, has said to That VideoGame Blog that  “Everything we have just now in Beta, we really have to wipe. I mean, it’s an online game and there was a lot of stuff that was created in older systems”, he continued “The whole point of beta is to test everything and get everything ready. Just like every other online game, really. Y’know we have to wipe what has been done”.

Jones explains: “We would love to carry over all the imagery and stuff. But to be honest because a lot of it was made in older systems, and we’ve been in Beta for a long time, the safest thing to do for the game and for the players is to start from scratch”.