Crackdown Creator Reveals New Info on Latest Project

Realtime Worlds, the developers behind hit hero title Crackdown have finally released some news concerning their newest project, which we all now is not Crackdown 2. Strangely enough, it also has absolutely nothing to do with the Xbox360 either.

Teaming up with Electronic Arts for an exclusive North America/European release agreement, All Points Bulletin will be a Persistent Online Multiplayer Game coming straight to the PC in early 2010. According to representatives from the companies, APB “takes the universal theme of Criminals and Enforcement and brings it to a persistent, open world multiplayer setting in a modern, crime-ridden city.”

“After a few years of quietly working on APB I’m extremely excited to be able to show it publically for the first time” says David Jones, Founder and Creative Director of Realtime Worlds. “To also be able to announce our marketing and distribution agreement with EA Partners at the same time is the cream on top. It’s very evident that EA Partners are clearly in-sync with our vision for APB and between us we aim to ensure gamers understand why it’s unique, and share our excitement”.

Here’s the official rundown on APB from EA:

“APB is a new breed of online game. Set in a persistent living, breathing open-world urban environment where fame and fortune awaits all players. Some players will achieve this by feeding on the city, its people and its businesses…the Criminals. Some will live by a higher code and instead feed on the criminals and their organizations…the Enforcers. This dynamic where players become the core content for other players is one of the many unique features of APB. Its deep, rich customization system provides players with the ability to completely personalize their identity. Looks, clothing, vehicles and even music, all to astonishing detail and quality.”

As you can see, the game looks to have a gritty and aggressive visual style and tries taking the simple concept of Cops and Robbers into a much more epically themed direction. While I’m currently drawing a blank on the classification of Persistent Online Multiplayer Game, what I’ve managed to learn via forums and whatnot is that the game may track your stats and let you upgrade to better weapons and armor. Still, this title is still more than a year away, so hopefully they’ll get a bit clearer on the specifics in the coming months.

At first glance, APB looks to be an interesting title we’ll be keeping our eyes on. For now, APB doesn’t look to be gracing the 360, but who knows what the future may hold? If it proves successful on the PC, maybe a 360 port will make its way into a future lineup.