All Points Bulletin Beta Kicks Off Next Week

A beta for yet another MMO has been closing in, but this isn't a regular MMO, so all those World of Warcraft worshipers won't have another game to bully and tag as less than WoW. The developer of the game, Dundee, started giving out its beta applications in August and months turned to weeks, turned to days and the beta testing is about to kick off. The Scottish developers have put together and online shooter that will allow up to 100 players in a single city and up to 100,000 in the entire world to put their skills to good use.

According to GI.biz, Realtime Worlds CEO Gary Dale gave a little speech today at Tech Media Invest conference at the Emirates Stadium in London and gave the beta a start time of next week. Details regarding the number of applicants that have become part of the testing group have not been given. The good news for those who didn't apply for the occasion or for those who won't be making the cut this time around is that the company plans to expand the number of its beta participants as the launch approaches.

The game may have been announced in 2005, but the Scottish developers have kept it tucked under the car tarp. After the official first announcement, it didn't get to see the light of press releases until 2008, when Grand Theft Auto creator and creative director of APB Dave Jones gave the game the first in-depth presentation. The showcasing of the game came during the Game Developers Conference and let the world get a first impression on this new venture. In 2009, EA became part of the project when it announced at the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo that All Point Bulletin would be published through the Electronic Arts Partners program.

The game will offer an open-world environment as a basis and won't be operating under traditional MMO standards. The third-person shooter's official site clearly states that it “won't be the traditional monthly subscription model” but that doesn't mean it will be a one time payment either. A micro-transaction system could be used or some other ingenuous form of payment that will still respect the “not a monthly fee” policy while still digging dip into the pockets of players. An answer will be given in March 2010 when the game is released; until then all we have is skepticism.