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K2 Network buys rights to APB

Company behind GamersFirst service snaps up Realtime Worlds MMO for rumoured £1.5m

K2 Network, the company behind free-to-play service GamersFirst, has bought the APB intellectual property from defunct studio Realtime Worlds.

Sources have told GamesIndustry.biz that the publisher of War Rock and 9 Dragons paid in the region of £1.5 million for the game, with a possibility that the shooter may be up and running again before the end of the year.

An official announcement is expected to be made in the coming week. K2 Network specialises in adapting, localising and hosting Asian free-to-play games for European and the US audiences.

The plug was pulled on the ambitious MMO in September, as developer Realtime Worlds fell into administration after a poor start for the game.

After a long development period and mediocre reviews on release, Realtime began laying off staff, while another title in development, Project MyWorld, was sold off to a US firm headed by former director Ian Hetherington.

The new version of APB is now likely to adopt a free-to-play model. Originally it was a subscription game with micro-transactions, allowing users to pay for play time.

Players of GamersFirst games buy G1 Credits, a universal currency across all of their games. The service claims to have a community of over 28 million users in 160 countries.

GamersFirst declined to comment when approached by GamesIndustry.biz.

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Matt Martin

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Matt Martin joined GamesIndustry in 2006 and was made editor of the site in 2008. With over ten years experience in journalism, he has written for multiple trade, consumer, contract and business-to-business publications in the games, retail and technology sectors.

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