Realtime to reveal second MMO next year

By Games Industry.biz Published 23 June, 2009

It's "very ambitious", says APB dev.

Realtime Worlds CEO Dave Jones has revealed that the Dundee-based developer - currently hard at work creating online title APB - will release the first details of its second MMO project next year.

Jones, speaking in his keynote presentation at this year's GameHorizon conference, wouldn't confirm anything more for now, other than that it was "a very ambitious project" that the company is "very excited" about.

He also revealed that it was the project which the company originally set out to create, and was what the initial USD 30 million in venture capital funding was raised for back in 2005 - with the implication that the "ambitious" nature of the game was why APB will now be released first.

Jones went on to talk about the reasons for the formation of Realtime Worlds - principally that he wanted to creative a new business based on online gaming, and challenge the traditional sense of creating games and funding those projects.

He also outlined the major challenges that the company has faced in setting up an online title for the first time - including latency and bandwidth issues, the need for a big QA team (which will surpass 70 people soon), the need to work on a twenty-four-seven basis and the big investment required.

He didn't give any specific details about APB's business model in terms of what it will cost players, but did say that the model would "remain flexible for as long as possible and focus on what it costs to run the game," with more details revealed closer to launch.

And regarding costs, Jones warned that any company attempting to create an online title should know "intimately" the concurrent player connection cost, a number which should include the operations team, infrastructure, customer support and bandwidth.

Realtime Worlds' first release was Crackdown, an Xbox 360-exclusive which gained significant critical acclaim - but Microsoft's reluctance to commit to a sequel saw the company opt for its own projects instead.

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Comments (12) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • LeeroyJenkins #1 3 years ago

    Can't wait to hear more. APB is at the top of my Most Wanted list.

  • AphoticCosmos #2 3 years ago

    More ambitious than APB might be too ambitious, but I can't wait to see what it is, at any rate. :)

  • LittleSacky #3 3 years ago

    I'm Looking forward to APB, definitely giving it a go when it comes out.

    However part of me would have preferred to hear that they were putting all their current effort into completing their first MMO game and planning solid compelling future content for it, before announcing that their already at work on another one (even if its probably only in the planning stages).

  • stoopidgreg #4 3 years ago

    not sure if APB is all that ambitious. it's really just a large team deathmatch game with upgradable stats. not unlike huxley or MAG.

  • Metalfish #5 3 years ago

    The teases!

  • Bravestinsane #6 3 years ago

    Game looks fantastic and it has real potential.. but for me personally not the thing i would enjoy so good luck to everyone who plays it.

  • Orange #7 3 years ago

    Makes me a bit concerned for the depth of APB if they've got a bigger project in the background.

  • AndyboyH #8 3 years ago

    what you didn't report was that they need a big QA team - 70 people, because they have no AI. So everything's got to be done with real players. (yes, I was there)

    Helps bring things into context a bit...

  • AndyboyH #9 3 years ago

    The other thing that was mentioned was that the other Realtime Worlds project might be more accessible than the typical PC based APB - there was a hint it might be something portable.

  • Petulant_Radish #10 3 years ago

    Why didn’t you commit earlier Microsoft?! I would have like a sequel from Real Time Worlds but I suppose Ruffian can put their own spin on it whilst sticking to the original style with the RTW staff members they have. I would have commissioned a second game as soon as I’d finished playing the first.

  • Stupot21 #11 3 years ago

    I believe the unannounced title is some sort of hybridized social networking/MMO type deal called "MyWorld" or something like that.

  • Kerome #12 3 years ago

    Oh dear... new MMO developer tries to launch two MMOs simultaneously, describing one of them as "very ambitious"... this can't possibly end well...