Realtime Worlds' demise confirmed by APB shutdown
The collapse of Dundee games firm Realtime Worlds becomes final this weekend when the plug is pulled on its flagship game APB.
- By Stefan Morkis
- Published in the Courier : 18.09.10
- Published online : 18.09.10 @ 11.57am
Less than a year ago, the title was being hailed as the game that would turn the firm into a global leader in its field. But now APB's failure has cost Dundee its largest games firm and around 180 people their jobs.
Even after the company tumbled into administration last month, there were high hopes a buyer would be found for APB. But no buyer has emerged and the game's servers will be shut down this weekend -- an end no one foresaw 12 months ago when politicians such as then Scottish secretary Jim Murphy were invited on tours of Realtime World's lavish Marketgait headquarters.
As APB neared the end of its five-year gestation period, dozens of employees tested the game, which allowed users to create and fully customise their own characters to run amok in the fictional city of San Para.
Nearly £100 million had been spent on developing a game that its makers hoped would challenge the dominant World of Warcraft multiplayer online title.
Administrator Paul Dounis admitted it had been impossible to sell the game as a going concern, despite 300 firms initially expressing an interest. Shutting down APB means the loss of 50 more jobs, bringing the total number of people out of work because of Realtime World's collapse to 180.
"Too many unknowns"
"After an accelerated diligence process, the interested parties made it clear that the sale of APB as a going concern and 'live' operation is fraught with too many unknowns and therefore not a viable proposition. This regrettably means the closure of the Dundee studio," Mr Dounis said.
"We very much regret not being able to find a buyer for APB and by doing so safeguard jobs. Every possible attempt was made to achieve this but in the end no one was prepared to take the game on in its present form, along with unknown problems which they might then encounter.
"We are now looking to try and conclude a sale of the intellectual property rights and platform upon which the game has been built over the next few weeks. There may then still be an opportunity to minimise some of the job losses. We will be continuing to do everything possible to this end."
On the game's official website, the people who remained on staff to the end have been thanking the game's community for their support and lamenting the loss of a project that many still believe could have been turned into a success.
Gameplay programmer Bryan Robertson posts, "Of all the games I've worked on, APB was probably the one with the most potential. I genuinely believe that given more time, we could have turned APB into the game we all wanted it to be. I'd like to thank the community for all their support, the good times I've had playing against them, and for the amazing (and often hilarious) user-generated content that they've created."
Rob Anderberg posts, "Thanks for sticking with us through the hard times guys, we put a huge amount of our lives into APB, but unfortunately we're not going to get the chance to make it the game we all knew it had the potential to be. Thanks."
Unlike Realtime's earlier title Crackdown, APB was intended to earn money for the firm even after players had bought their own title. Its failure to capture the imagination of gamers not only led to the online game shutting down but also sank the entire company.
Alan Mitchell, chief executive of the Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce, said, "It is obviously disappointing that the negotiations have fallen through and that the name of Realtime Worlds won't be carrying on in the city."
Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie said, "While we are extremely disappointed for the staff and their families, I am also a little surprised, given the high level of interest in the game from groups of investors. We understand the administrators originally had 300 expressions of interest."
Dundee West MP Jim McGovern said, "This is terrible news for the workforce, their families, the games industry and Dundee. For the 170 people who are now seeking alternative work, we will be doing everything we can to support the games industry over the coming months to try to attract new companies to Dundee.
"Three hundred notes of interest from all over the world to take over the game APB is a clear sign to me that the games made in Dundee have an international reputation. It is now my job to work with others to try to build on this and bring more games companies to Dundee."
Dundee West MSP Joe FitzPatrick said, "Realtime Worlds had an exceptional track record as Dundee's largest computer games company and APB was a very bold -- and expensive -- property to develop. In retrospect, it was perhaps too expensive to develop, too big a project.
"But I am saddened that many of the talented RTW team in Dundee will not be re-employed under the same roof."
"Ultimately rewarding"
Dundee East MSP Shona Robison, said, "It's very sad news for those who were first made redundant exactly a month ago -- on August 17 -- and who will not now be re-employed."
Realtime Worlds' other main asset, Project MyWorld, was bought two weeks ago by investors whose identities have not yet been disclosed.
For company founder Dave Jones, the real failure of the game is that it has not had the chance to live up to it potential.
He said, "I truly wish we have the chance to continue to craft APB into the vision we had for it. It has been a long and difficult journey but ultimately rewarding to have had the chance to try something bold and different.
"APB holds some great memories, from the last night of the beta, to the clans and individuals who amazed us with their creativity and sense of community."
Scottish secretary Michael Moore has accepted an invitation to Dundee to see what assistance can be given to the video games sector.
08.23pm - 18.09.2010 John - Dundee, Scotland Report This
A sorry and disastrous episode for many years. Let's hope it's opened the eyes of the external hangers-on that fell for the promise of the impossible. MSPs, investors, universities, trade representatives, the list goes on. They all fell for it, they should have phoned Watchdog. A sham and a scam.
03.18am - 21.09.2010 D Cline - Kamloops, Canada Report This
i think they needed to do more advertising in the US & Canada
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