Realtime Worlds announced today the launch date, pre-order details, and most importantly what payment model they plan on using for their cops-n-robbers themed MMOG All Points Bulletin.
(Click the above image to view the Pre-Order trailer.)
APB will be releasing in the US on June 29 at $49.99, and in Europe on July 2nd at £34.99/€49.99. Players who pre-order the game will receive a number of bonus goodies. Read below for details:
- As an APB VIP, you get access days before the rest of the world
- A bonus 10 hours of game time!
- Your own key to the city, allowing access to the pre-launch event
- Exclusive clothing options (for both Enforcer and Criminal characters)
- An exclusive Decal
- Two exclusive Emotes
- An exclusive, customised vehicle
Much hay has been made over what business model APB would make use of. After all, it wouldn't be subscriptions, but it was also promised to be "different" which sounded like it ruled out your traditional F2P model as well. Here's the skinny straight from the APB FAQ:
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 customising, socialising 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 customisations 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
They weren't kidding about being different. Instead of just buying time in days like your traditional MMO (which you can do for $9.99/30 days) you'll also be able to purchase blocks of actual hours, which is probably a much better alternative for players who aren't sure how much they will be playing in a given time period. The social district of the game, where you can do all your customizing, socializing and trading on the marketplace, will be availabled for an unlimited amount of time simply by purchasing the game. In the end, Realtime Worlds are offering a flexible array of payment options, and even some partially free-to-play gameplay for those of you who are content with hanging out in the social district.
What is even more interesting is that Realtime Worlds' plans to leverage the game's robust creation and design tools to allow players to earn points towards additional playtime. I know I can't design a logo or neat graphic for my life, so if I can help a starving designer pay his way through the game in exchange for some sweet clothes or decals, I'm all for it!
View the official announcement here.
