AUG. 18, 2010 • After releasing its APB online RPG on June 29th, Scotland-based developer Realtime Worlds went into administration. While buyers are sought, 157 of the company’s 210 staffers in Dundee lost their jobs, as well as 28 more in Colorado.
Impact: APB announced only 130,000 registered users after more than a month on the market. APB was a very expensive game that had been in development for years. The model was to sell the game at about $50, provide 50 hours of game play and then upsell consumers on subscriptions. However, only getting 130,000 users for such a high profile game launch it is clear given recent churn rate trends that this product simply was not going to generate the needed revenue. The competition has simply gotten too intense, and development delays means APB missed its window.
