APB Reloaded beta sign-up kicks off

Sign-up for a closed APB Reloaded beta – the reanimated version of the disastrous MMO that helped sink Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds - is now underway.

Speaking on the APB Reloaded blog, new custodian GamersFirst has invited interested gamers to register their email address on its site and then create a GamersFirst account.

Two weeks before the beta goes live you'll then get an email asking you for additional data, including your DxDiag ("if you don't know what that is, then you might not be a great closed beta candidate"), information about your system and details of your gaming background. Once that's all done, successful applicants will be emailed a beta key.

GamersFirst added, "If you feel like you don't want to share the additional data being asked of you, you can always back out of the process, and just ask to be notified about the open beta when that's ready instead."

It has apparently received 20,000 email addresses so far and expects that between 10 and 20 per cent of players who sign up will fulfill all the closed beta registration requirements.

The plan is to have between 6,000 and 8,000 fully registered and confirmed players for the closed beta, translating to around 800 players online at the same time during peak hours.

Players won't be able to use their original characters, but GamersFirst is working on allowing players to reclaim data for the subsequent open beta.

APB originally launched back in July 2010 to poor reviews and went offline when developer Realtime Worlds collapsed in August. K2 Networks, owner of GamersFirst, announced that it had picked up the game in November.

It plans to re-launch the title as a free-to-play game later this year with minimal changes to the established gameplay.