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Realtime Worlds hemorrhages staff

UPDATE: APB studio sheds 185 positions as part of bankruptcy administration; online shooter to remain operational, receive updates. Twenty-three staff since rehired for MyWorld.

As promised earlier in the week, APB will carry on despite the collapse of developer Realtime Worlds. Paul Dounis, joint administrator for Begbies Traynor, said servers for the online shooter are still running and the game can still be played. Realtime Worlds also confirmed that updates and improvements for APB will still be added over time.

The game's not over for APB.

The game's not over for APB.

Scottish developer Realtime Worlds, which released the cops-and-robbers online shooter at the end of June, went into administration on Tuesday. Dounis, of business rescue and restructuring firm Begbies Traynor, said the studio's debts in the UK were around £3 million ($5 million). Of the 210 staff at the Dundee studio, 157 have been laid off. Twenty-eight of the 42 employees at the developer's US offices in Colorado, where online operations are managed, also lost their jobs.

Today, Realtime Worlds laid out plans to restructure its business and keep APB playable, saying game updates and tweaks are on the way despite the layoffs. The latest patch will include matchmaking changes, weapon rebalancing, new vehicle handling, and voice chat improvements, the developer said. "APB will not only continue as an online service but will be improved and supported 100 percent during this restructure," said Dounis. The administrator also said some potential buyers in the UK and US have expressed interest in acquiring the studio.

APB received mediocre reviews, but shortly after its release the developer promised to roll out significant changes and improvements over time, particularly to the much-criticised vehicle handling. Community officer Neil Castle said that many beta testers' suggestions had "fallen through the cracks" in the run up to launch. Realtime Worlds "wanted to get a chance to contrast the feedback from new live players with the feedback from the beta community to help us draw up our hit list for the first few months," said Castle.

British developers The Creative Assembly and Blitz Games Studios, respectively makers of the Total War series and Dead to Rights: Retribution, have pledged support for those affected by Realtime Worlds' layoffs. The Creative Assembly is planning a recruitment day in Dundee this Friday, seeking staff for "an unannounced AAA [console] title" as well as the Total War team. Blitz executives are also travelling to Dundee to "talk to Realtime Worlds staff about…the employment opportunities available."

[UPDATE]:Realtime Worlds has rehired 23 members of the team working on the studio’s MyWorld 3D project. The 23 were laid off from the 60-person team earlier in the month, before the developer went into administration. Administrator Begbies Traynor said that "MyWorld is attracting considerable interest from potential buyers…hence the fact we have been able to offer a limited number of those jobs back."

34 Comments

  • gbrading Site moderator

    Posted Aug 23, 2010 10:09 am GMT

    It looks like Realtimes Worlds invested most of their capital in the success of APB. Shame it turned into CrimeCraft with cars.

  • ValentineRain

    Posted Aug 22, 2010 5:24 pm GMT

    @stakex007: Eh, well granted I haven't checked the status for the forums since writing it off as a lost cause, but at the time I purchased APB it was definitely NOT just 'a post or two'. It was a forum explosion. Granted, even then it isn't entirely fair a thing to base the game's stability off of, as who is going to post when the game is working correctly? But it definitely wasn't just a spotty, some-here, some-there performance issue. It was completely unplayable, for a large number of users.

    But nah, I don't think you're being mean or unfair about it. As I said before, the game had crazy awesome potential. I really hope they can fix this stuff, particularly the 'loading district' error that most users with problems were experiencing at the time.
    I'd also like to see graphics options, I think that'd fix a lot of the drain the game had on the average system. Sure, you can crank it from (admittedly) sexy to minimum graphics, but it doesn't turn off the shadows, or any of the other things someone more tech-savvy could point out that would increase performance.

    I'm not saying abandon ship if you have it, but I do think it's best that a possible future customers are wary of that kind of thing, in case they don't get fixed.
    After reading your post, though, I checked the patch notes, and the staff clearly isn't doing nothing. If only they'd fix -my- problem, heh. /narcissism

  • digi-demon

    Posted Aug 22, 2010 1:35 pm GMT

    In an Ideal world it should have developed Crackdown2 and maybe then it could have pulled in some profit!

  • stakex007

    Posted Aug 20, 2010 9:52 pm GMT

    @ValentineRain - While I myself decided not to buy APB, I had several friends who did and none of them have ever had any issue connecting to the game (nor did I durring months of beta). And while there might the the occasional forum post on the official forums about such issues, it seems to be a very limited... yet you're making it sound like the game is virtually unplayable for the majority of players.

    This is what bugs me. APB was a game with a ton of issues as I said in my earlier post. However, it bugs me when someone has an issue thats very limited / on their end and they slander the game. Even calling APB buggy is laughable when compared with most MMOs. APB is un-balanced, lacks content, full of hackers, easy to exploit, and has no depth... but it only has a handful of actual bugs that hurt gameplay, most of which have been fixed since launch. Which is another point to be made. Simply reading the update history clearly shows that for a company in trouble, RTWs is putting in a hell of an effort to fix APB, despite that fact there not doing enough in you're eyes.

    Sorry if my post seems mean, its not intended to be. Its just that, while APB had enough issues that I decided to pass on it for now, I hate to see people un-justly attack a game. Not saying you're not having issues with it, and I'm sorry to hear that... but someone reading you're post whos never tried the game will think its a complete POS, which despite its issues, its really not.

  • ValentineRain

    Posted Aug 20, 2010 11:56 am GMT

    The more I read about APB and Realtime Worlds, the sadder I find this whole scenario.

    APB had serious potential to be an enjoyable experience. The amount of customization for your character was incredible, it had an intriguing premise... but ultimately it was just too buggy, and too little was being done about it.
    I couldn't even get the servers to connect half of the time, nor could most of the forum, and the only customer support offered for over a month was "We're working on it". Meanwhile, all of the failed attempts to connect from the server were ticking away from my purchased game time.
    Still isn't fixed.

    I decided to save my game hours by just not playing it until the issues were fixed. If this doesn't go well, they never will be. It'll be a real shame, not to mention a waste of cash.

  • StSk8ter29

    Posted Aug 20, 2010 11:47 am GMT

    Will it die quicker than Auto Assault? Thumbs up for yes, thumbs down for no.

  • SoulReaper133

    Posted Aug 20, 2010 4:59 am GMT

    It's sad that now the only way to make it in the gaming industry nowadays is to be aquired by one of the larger companies like EA and Activision. The reason its sad is because with games from smaller companies you get that touch of personality from the developers that sorely lacks in games from larger companies which are just money hoarding franchises.
    APB really had a lot of potential...

  • Humorguy_basic

    Posted Aug 20, 2010 3:58 am GMT

    Surely it's obvious by now, that unless you have a major name to utilise (Warcraft, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc), you are going to find it almost impossible to start a successful MMO in today's market.

    People also have to realise that the MMO market is almost saturated. Let's not forget, only 50% of gamers are even interested in MMO gaming, and are happy with single and network play!

  • nathan83_xp

    Posted Aug 20, 2010 2:09 am GMT

    in the cut throat world of the gaming industry, developers have few chances to prove themselves, and gamers give too few second chances. Hope the entire industry takes this as a lesson, rushing a game's release will only hasten the IP to an early grave.

  • terror_ninja

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 6:56 pm GMT

    ... lmao. "Community officer Neil Castle said that many beta-testers' suggestions had "fallen through the cracks" in the run-up to launch. " What was the point of beta testers then? ~_o lol stupid.

  • Shelledfade1

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 6:36 pm GMT

    never buying from realtime worlds again. I hope that company is simply done for now.

    APB was a serious waste of 50 dollars. No one can deny that. No one wants to spend 50 dollars on a BETA and that's exactly what this game is and still is. A beta. Weapons weren't tested. Missions weren't tested. The entire game is still pre-alpha. It isn't even in alpha stages yet and the game has been out for over a month.

    I hope realtime world dies off for making such a crappy product. I certainly won't be buying another one of their games if they manage to stick around.

    When people make games this bad there is no excuse. They simply shouldn't be in the gaming industry. Serves them right. Good riddance.

  • Pete5506

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 6:31 pm GMT

    Ouch 185 people let go

  • runstalker

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 5:31 pm GMT

    "Community officer Neil Castle said that many beta-testers' suggestions had "fallen through the cracks" in the run-up to launch."

    Let's face the facts: Realtime Worlds just got owned by APB.

    A lot of us had a pretty good time with APB, actually, but there just isn't enough mojo there. The game is neither outstanding shooter, nor a particularly great PvP or match-making experience, nor is it sandbox GTA-grade, or tight enough in its vehicle and avatar controls, or balanced/deep enough in its RPG and load-out offerings. Kick ass little customization meta-game, however.
    Coulda' been a contender. Now yet another EA Partners' MMO struggles (cursed? rushed?) and, like Hellgate before it, it heralds doom for the poor, talented studio that signed up.

  • SolidTy

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 4:37 pm GMT


    Good to hear their MMO fans aren't being left behind...but I'm sure this news is preventing sales of their game. If only they could have prevented or held out longer.

  • duke-nukem11

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 2:53 pm GMT

    shame. i like apb. but like all mmo's they take a few months to get going. so ill come back when the chaos servers pop up

  • Frosty192

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 2:31 pm GMT

    @Driscoal go back to playing wow, none of us want you on here bye bye

  • Buzduganjr

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 1:00 pm GMT

    Realtime Worlds is a big company and a very good rated ones but is sad to see they laid off ppl i hope the company will continue bring good games to our living rooms how they did till now

  • Driscoal posted Aug 19, 2010 12:21 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Driscoal

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 12:21 pm GMT (hide)

    "Paul Dounis, joint administrator for Begbies Traynor, said servers for the online shooter are still running and the game can still be played."

    Who cares?

  • airshocker

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 12:12 pm GMT

    It's time to jump ship, folks. This game has another year, tops.

  • Squirrelatwar

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 11:35 am GMT

    Sad to hear about job losses, but yay for Creative Assembly and Blitz helping to employ some of those who lost their jobs.

  • lightwarrior179

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 11:14 am GMT

    That's disappointing to hear such an unfortunate fate happening to the developers of games like Crackdown.

  • JLCrogue

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 11:02 am GMT

    I really wanted to see what they were going to make next and hope that they would make up for it by making it a great game. Sure, they messed up on APB, but can't we give them another chance? They made Crackdown after all, so you know they had potential. I just don't like to see any more businesses, especially game developers, go bankrupt, which happens way too often.

  • wis3boi

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 10:13 am GMT

    well we knew it would continue....but for how long? That's the real question

  • florynbosul posted Aug 19, 2010 10:09 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    florynbosul

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 10:09 am GMT (hide)

    good

  • stakex007

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 9:51 am GMT

    @NoDzombie - APB was a game with a whole lot of issues... but the game was most certainly finished, and more stable then most MMOs when it was released (WoWs launch was a disaster compared to the rather smooth launch of APB for example). The issue was not that the game wasn't finished, its that RTWs design and implimentation wasn't as good as it should have been leading to a broken, though finished, game.

    One thing that gets me is everyone seems to hate the driving... yet I thought it was one of the best features in APB. It was tough, but rewarding. Of all the other issues the game had (RTW is in fact fixing them slowly but surely) it shocks me that the driving is often the big complaint.

  • blakeney

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 9:04 am GMT

    Best thing any new investor/buyer could do, is scrap APB, get all the copyrights, trademarks and licences (mainly in the custom department), and sell that to a "good" team that will make a real go of it?

  • sliperywhenwet6

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 8:52 am GMT

    They need to make a new singleplayer game (as in no subscription fee) that looks good, and fast.

  • Evilnator

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 8:45 am GMT

    I feel sorry for the people who lost their jobs.. but realtime worlds had it coming.

  • s4dn3s5

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 8:31 am GMT

    That's why Blizzard games take forever to come out

  • NoDzombie

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 7:21 am GMT

    sad to see this happen but when you release a game thats not even finished (promising big improvements after release?) then its got to be expected really, glad to see Blitz and The Creative Assembly stepping in to hire people though

  • Chickenesta

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 6:52 am GMT

    Shame

  • Duckyindiana

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 6:31 am GMT

    Nice to see The Creative Assembly and Blitz stepping in to help out the staff that have lost there jobs.

  • Torff

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 6:06 am GMT

    Have to agree with what Blitz said.

  • Blitz8529

    Posted Aug 19, 2010 5:44 am GMT

    "but shortly after its release, the developer promised to roll out significant changes and improvements over time"

    Investors and developers need to understand if a game is released early its most like going to fail. There is a history proving this. After release is to late.

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