APB Comes to a “Premature End”

Realtime Worlds has announced that APB, which only came out at the end of June, is being shut down for good.

It was probably inevitable: After a long, expensive development period, APB was released at the end of June to sub-par reviews and a decided lack of interest, forcing Realtime Worlds to lay off staff and eventually go into administration. Such a quick collapse didn’t bode well for the future of the game and today, less than 90 days after it launched, the other shoe dropped.

“APB has been a fantastic journey, but unfortunately that journey has come to a premature end,” Community Officer Ben Bateman wrote in what is now the only message available on the APB forums. “Today we are sad to announce that despite everyone’s best efforts to keep the service running, APB is coming to a close. It’s been a pleasure working on APB and with all its players. Together we were building an absolutely amazing game, and for that, we thank you. You guys are awesome!”

He said he currently doesn’t know what options will be available to players with outstanding RTW Points but that they’ll likely be laid out in a forthcoming press release. The game is no longer available on Steam and retail copies have apparently been pulled from shelves, but Bateman tweeted earlier today that the servers will up for “a little longer” and invited gamers to jump in and say goodbye. Specific shutdown times weren’t revealed, although Eurogamer says the plug will be pulled once and for all tomorrow.

UPDATE: APB will be free until it’s gone, but Bateman noted on Twitter that the servers are going down for good tonight. In other words, if you want to be around for the big finish, you’d better get moving.