APB Getting an Open Public Beta Before Release

The next game from developer Realtime Worlds, the company behind Crackdown, All Points Bulletin, will be seeing an open public beta before the game’s release, reports Wired. There’s been no indication from the developer as to when we might expect either the beta or the game itself. Given that the creator of GTA, David Jones, is one of the top dogs at Realtime, you can expect they’ll be taking as much time as they need.

You might remember back in April, Realtime bought back the rights to APB so that they would have full rights over the game’s distribution throughout the world. Jones said, “By controlling the rights to APB we can ensure that gamers around the globe experience the revolutionary gameplay we envisioned when we first began creating the property.” This fueled rumors that Realtime might potentially shop the game to Rockstar, who could in turn publish the game as GTA Online. We haven’t heard anything about it since, but it’s such a juicy rumor that I don’t want to let go of it just yet.

The promise of an open beta before release seems like a good sign of things to come. It’s mutually benefitial, in that gamers can play the game early and provide feedback, and Realtime can test the game with a large number of people playing. Plus, a beta is a great way of landing some free publicity, which any company would be happy to get.