14 DAY TRIAL // Publisher GamerFirst has announced that APB Reloaded, the action oriented MMO that was re-launched during last week, has managed to get more than 3 million registered players in less than seven days, mostly because of its use of the free-to-play business model.
The company also revealed that APB Reloaded was the second most popular micro transaction featuring game on the Steam digital distribution platform from Steam.
Initially, the game was named All Points Bulletin and was developed by Realtime Worlds and was published by Electronic Arts and pre-release hype focused on the possibilities of the character creation engine and on the gunplay mechanics.
The MMO was launched using a monthly subscription model, but it reviewed poorly and was closed down after just a couple of months, with developer Realtime Worlds also going under soon after.
GamerFirst then picked up the rights to the game in November 2010 and hired some of the veterans of the development process to implement the free-to-play model.
Rahul Sandil, who is the senior vice president of marketing at GamersFirst, stated, “We recognized the potential for APB Reloaded to be a true breakout hit in the free-to-play category all through beta testing. We quickly amassed a vocal, dedicated community, and they've been instrumental in growing the game and helping better the experience.”
He added, “Ultimately, players who discover a new free game decide if there's enough value and quality to keep playing, and APB Reloaded's trajectory tells us a growing number are being blown away by what they're getting.”
GamerFirst is also planning to launch a retail version of APB Reloaded, which will include premium content that is worth about 50 dollars (38.3 Euro) and will only retail for 29.99 dollars (a little over 23 Euro).
A number of important MMOs have recently made the switch to the free-to-play model and have since reported increases in both player numbers and revenue.