At a press conference in Seoul, Korea, Webzen, a local games publisher, announced it was awarded the worldwide online game publishing rights to All Points Bulletin (APB), the first online game developed by David Jones, the creator of the multi-million selling, Grand Theft Auto, and his UK-based game development company, Real Time Worlds (RTW).
APB is scheduled to release in early 2007 and will be showcased at the video game industry's largest trade show, the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo, in Los Angeles this May.
As an avid gamer and creator of many single player games, it has been my dream to create an online game experience that provides the player with the ultimate freedom to do whatever he wants, in a thriving, living environment, said David Jones, founder and creative director of Real Time Worlds.
APB is a massively multiplayer online game based in living, breathing cities that will feel familiar to players, as they precisely replicate famous cities all over the world. APB is a turf war involving two main factions, the Squads, whose goal is to uphold the law, and the Gangs, who seek to break the law at all costs. Players will be able to choose their side, in a classic good guy versus bad guy scenario. The Gangs are all about graffiti, attitude, custom cars and earning cash any way they can. The Squads stand for honor, teamwork, firepower and destroying the Gangs. APB will provide the player with the ultimate customization options from their weapons, vehicles and clothes to their attitude, music and environment.
Thousands of players are expected to form gangs or squads all around the world, and will play in hundreds of online cities. APB is scheduled to release in early 2007.
APB marks the most ambitious, to date, plan in Webzen's expansion into the U.S. market. Recently the company had announced the opening of a Los Angeles office. In addition to APB, Webzen plans to bring multiple online game titles to the U.S. market. Other titles destined for U.S. release, include the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), SUN, releasing in the third quarter of 2005, and a massively multiplayer online first person shooter (MMOFPS) called Huxley, that will utilize the latest Unreal 3 game engine and is scheduled to release in 2006. Webzen is also developing game properties for the next generation game consoles to enhance its appeal to the mainstream gaming audience.
Webzen is better known for developing online game and client/server technologies. The company also prides itself in the creativity department, publishing some of the most highly acclaimed titles for the Asian market. For its tremendously successful 3D MMORPG title, MU, Webzen has attracted over 56 million users and a half million concurrent users from the Asian market alone.
