If you were one of the lucky people who got accepted in the All Points Bulletin beta you should be happy to hear that the beta will go live sometime next week.

News of this comes to us from Realtime Worlds CEO Gary Dale who took center stage during the Tech Media Invest conference to let us know of the beta’s next week appearance. Furthermore, he said that those who didn’t get accepted into the beta need not worry as Realtime Worlds plans on accepting more and more people as the game’s release date grows nearer.

via eurogamer

Ever since Realtime Worlds announced All Points Bulletin it has been a highly sought after game with it’s GTA-like gameplay and MMO genre.

Well the developer has again stepped forward to speak of the game and this time about the subscription fees, a topic that has been under discussion for some time. David Jones of Realtime Worlds was quoted to have said the following:

“Basically, you have to buy the client. It’s a traditional game that you buy…We’re not going the normal ‘you have to subscribe to play the game every month’ route. What we haven’t said is which route we are going, and in some respects we’re still looking.”

Let’s hope that they really come up with something unique if you told World of Warcraft players they would have to pay an additional $15 a month to play APB, I don’t think they would be down.

via Kotaku

Here’s something we let slip by from E3, All Points Bulletin’s character creation tool which is showcased extensively in the above video.

Realtime Worlds really did a great job of giving players the ability to tweak and perfect their character any way they want. They also briefly showcased the ability to customize cars from their paintjob all the way to whats on the license plate.

If Realtime Worlds delivers with All Points Bulletin we may be looking at a hugely popular genre of MMOs. Unfortunately at this point all we have for a release date is Q1 2010, bummer.

It seems that a game studio founded by developers working on Fable II, Crackdown and GTA entitled Ruffian Games, has announced their expansion. 

The infant game studio will expand their employee base by 15 but still are unable to let the world know what they are working on. Joystiq quoted Ruffian exec Gaz Liddion as saying “Now we’re in full production, we’re itching to share the fantastic work these guys have been producing,” going on to say that the announcement “won’t bee to far away”.

Hmm, I wonder what the project could be? Crackdown 2 anyone?

After Realtime Worlds got wind of the speculation surrounding their appearance at E3, they released the following statement to the APB Evolved community:

Hi everyone at APB-Evolved, we just wanted to quickly say thanks for all your patience recently whilst we’ve been quietly pushing forward with the development of APB.

We know this can be frustrating for fans, so to show our appreciation we have decided to inform you guys that yes we WILL be at E3 this year and this will mark  the start of lots more news, activities and information coming out about APB: All Points Bulletin.

Here is a brand new screenshot made especially for you guys to give you another look at the awesome character customizations that will make up a large part of APB.

See you all at E3.

Realtime Worlds

So there you have it, Realtime Worlds will definitely be at E3 showcasing their upcoming MMO All Points Bulletin. Oh yeah, they also gave the community the above screenshot to show off the character customization, how kind of them.

Realtime Worlds has previously developed the Xbox 360 open world action game Crackdown, which has since become somewhat of a cult-classic.

It was recently announced that Take Two executive Gary Dale has taken the seat as Realtime Worlds new CEO. If you’re not familiar with Realtime Worlds, you may be familiar with its debut title Crackdown; you know, the game that came with a Halo 3 multiplayer beta key? Yeah, that one.

Co-founder and creative director of Realtime Worlds, David Jones, had this to say about Mr. Dale:

“Having worked with Gary earlier in his career at BMG Interactive, I am deeply impressed with his management style and profound understanding of the entertainment business. As RTW transitions from being a traditional developer to an online publisher I could not be happier that Gary will lead us through this exciting phase of our growth.”

The real growth we will see from Realtime Worlds, however, is with their upcoming GTA-esque MMO All Points Bulletin.

Press release after the break.

Realtime Worlds Names Leading Video Game Industry
Executive Gary Dale as new CEO

Former Take-Two Exec Assumes Helm of Innovative Interactive Entertainment Company on Verge of First Online Game Launch

            BOULDER, Colo. – April 27, 2009– Realtime Worlds, Inc., a leading independent video game developer and publisher, has chosen respected interactive entertainment executive Gary Dale as its new chief executive officer. A video game business expert with more than 25 years of executive experience, Dale will oversee the day-to-day operations and drive strategic direction of Realtime Worlds and its products, commencing with the highly-anticipated urban-themed online game All Points Bulletin.
“Having worked with Gary earlier in his career at BMG Interactive, I am deeply impressed with his management style and profound understanding of the entertainment business,” said David Jones, co-founder and creative director, Realtime Worlds.  “As RTW transitions from being a traditional developer to an online publisher I could not be happier that Gary will lead us through this exciting phase of our growth. His years of experience at companies such as Capcom and Take-Two will prove invaluable in ensuring we meet our goals of becoming a world leading next-generation online publisher. My focus going forward will be on ensuring we continue to deliver quality innovative experiences as with our debut title, Crackdown.”
“Realtime Worlds is one of the most innovative game companies in the world,” said Gary Dale, CEO, Realtime Worlds, Inc. “The Company is on the verge of launching products that will change current conceptions of what MMO games are about. I can’t imagine a more exciting opportunity than to join this talented and creative team as we prepare to deliver such ground-breaking and high quality online entertainment to gamers around the globe.”
A seasoned professional with considerable publishing, business, marketing and operations experience, Dale most recently served as the chief operating officer and executive vice president of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. In this capacity, he focused on optimizing the sales, marketing and distribution business, coordinated new opportunities in emerging genres and markets and served as the corporate liaison for the publisher’s various labels. Prior to this role at Take-Two, Dale was chief operating officer of the company’s Rockstar Games publishing label.
Previously, Dale served as the European managing director of Capcom Co. Ltd., a Japanese interactive entertainment company. He was also the CEO of Broadband Studios, a subsidiary of Take-Two focused on the creation of broadband interactive entertainment software and technology.
Earlier in his career, Dale held various executive positions at BMG, including senior vice president of International Marketing at BMG Music, and president of BMG’s Interactive Software and Video Division. In addition, he’s held marketing and executive positions at some of the most renowned companies, including Nabisco, Duracell and Walt Disney Company’s Buena Vista Home Entertainment, where he served as vice president of Asia Pacific and vice president sales and marketing for Europe.

About Realtime Worlds
Founded in 2002 by Creative Director David Jones alongside gaming industry veterans Ian Hetherington and Tony Harman, Realtime Worlds is one of the largest and most successful independent game developers in the world. With an exceptionally talented staff of more than 230, the company’s experienced teams have a tremendous history of creating some of the world’s bestselling video games, including the global hit franchises “Lemmings” and “Grand Theft Auto.”
In an exclusive partnership with Microsoft Game Studios, Realtime Worlds launched its first title, Crackdown, on Xbox 360 in early 2007. The debut game broke records for demo downloads, sold approximately 1.5 million copies, and won multiple awards including prestigious BAFTA and Develop Industry Excellence awards.
With offices in Boulder, Colo. and Dundee, Scotland, Realtime Worlds is currently working on All Points Bulletin, a multi-player online game in the urban action genre.
For more information on Realtime Worlds, visit www.realtimeworlds.com.

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All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 

This arrest system will let cops take out criminal players until they are freed or the arrest timer expires in which case they must respawn as if killed. In addition, the developer is said to be working on a stealth system, though it is unknown if it will make it to the final version of the game.

Additionally, Realtime Worlds is ditching class systems like most other MMOs, instead creating a unique class tailored to each player based on their individual style.

All Points Bulletin is due out on PC and Xbox 360 sometime next year.

The news comes straight from community relations manager Chris Dye who said in a post on the game’s forums that the studio has completely moved on to APB, its upcoming cops-and-robbers MMO.

However, he does note that the company appreciates the support gamers have provided for Crackdown, adding that the studio “hopes to repay that in future”.

APB is expected to hit PC and Xbox 360 sometime next year.

“I don’t think the door’s closed [on a sequel],” he said. “Obviously, right now we’re tied up with APB and everything else, but hopefully in the future we’ll have the resource and something can be worked out with Microsoft.”

The studio moved on to All Points Bulletin, an action-MMO that will pit cops against criminals, directly from Crackdown. He described the choice to be a “horrible, horrible decision that we still dwell on.”

All Points Bulletin is in development on PC and Xbox 360 for release in 2009; a public beta is expected to lead up to the game’s debut.