14 DAY TRIAL // Developer Realtime Worlds has announced that All Points Bulletin, its gang-oriented MMO, will be launched in North America on June 29, with the experience arriving in Europe on July 1 and one day later in the United Kingdom. EA Partners will be handling publishing duties for the title and Realtime Worlds also detailed its innovative payment system, which is pretty different from that of a normal subscription-based MMO.
All those who are interested in APB need to first pay 50 dollars or the equivalent in Euros in order to get a physical or digital download copy of the game. After installing it, they also get the right to play the game for a total of 50 hours. The twist is that all the areas of APB where players customize their character run around socializing with others and get some trading done will be free to access, only the instances where battles take place ticking down the 50-hour clock.
Once those are gone, another 20 hours of gameplay can be bought for 6.99 dollars, while a 30-day play, as long as you like periods, costs 9.99 dollars. Discounts are available for longer play periods bought and Realtime Worlds is also saying that those players who created content for the MMO will be able to get some more game time for free in APB, although how that will happen is not yet clear.
David Jones, who is the creative director working on APB, states the model is designed so that it can “provide a simple and flexible way for occasional and core players alike to pay for their play without being financially tethered to the game.” He adds that one main concern was actually making sure that good players get to enjoy the game more, “the model also provides an opportunity for customers to subsidize their costs by leveraging their talent or market savvy in the 'points' Marketplace. Highly talented players could potentially even play for free in this way.”