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Almost three weeks after Realtime Worlds CEO Gary Dale teased us with the chance to go hands-on with APB, the developer's marketing head, John Davies, has confirmed to VG247 that the first wave of closed beta invites for the pseudo-MMO have been sent out. We realize this news will either find you unsurprised (i.e., you already received an invite) or disheartened (i.e., you didn't), but we thought we'd pass it along regardless, as crushing your spirits is one of our very favorite pastimes.

Aww, don't cry. Now you're just bringing us down. Hey, you can still apply to join the APBeta on the game's official site. Who knows, you might just get accepted instantaneously. There might be an invite in your inbox right this second! Just ... just buck up, okay?

It seems Scottish government officials aren't going to let the nation's game developers get stolen away without a fight. Last week, we reported on Ireland's attempts to court Scotland's biggest game developers, starting with APB creators Realtime Worlds. Scottish Secretary of State Jim Murphy recently met with Realtime Worlds owner Dave Jones to talk about how Scotland can convince the company to stick around -- specifically discussing the option of tax breaks and other modes of government support.

If you found that last paragraph boring, here are the CliffsNotes: Ireland and Scotland are fighting over Scotland's game developers. As their incentives continue to escalate, we completely expect to see a "free ponies" offer on the table within the next few weeks.

If you're chomping at the bit for some virtual crime, we're here to let you know that the wait to get your fix is almost over: Realtime Worlds CEO Gary Dale confirmed (via GI.biz) that a beta for the PC version of APB is currently on the docket for next week -- a beta which Realtime Worlds began taking applications for mid-August.

If you haven't yet applied to be in the beta, you should probably get on that. Not sure if you're interested? Did you know the game is part GTA, part San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing?

In an attempt to kick-start its own video game industry, Ireland has begun to target a number of high-profile Scottish game development studios, attempting to woo them over to the Emerald Isle by offering a five-year tax holiday. Colin Macdonald, manager of Dundee-based APB developer Realtime Worlds, responded by saying "if the package on offer in Ireland was attractive we'd have to give it serious consideration." Other Scottish developers who could be influenced by the tax holiday include Rockstar North, Denki, Ruffian Games and Dynamo Games.

Macdonald went on to say that Scotland's going to need to do more to preserve its burgeoning gaming industry in light of attractive offers from countries such as Ireland and Canada, who Realtime "lost some of [its] key staff to" in the past few years. We can't help but wonder if this might have had less to do with the strength of Canada's gaming industry, and more to do with the deliciousness of their bacon.

[Via Gamasutra]

This APB trailer shows some in-game footage, allowing us to see what it will be like to inhabit the crime-filled world of Realtime Worlds' upcoming MMO. And, well, it's what you might expect from a somewhat GTA-like MMO -- and that is cars all over the place. Having a firefight with the cops? Expect to see some jerk drive a car right at you. Think you're safe up on a rooftop? Nope, car out of nowhere. Taking an impromptu breakdancing, uh, break? You get the idea.

The safest bet will be to remain inside a car at all times when playing the game, though that does unfortunately prevent breakdancing.

It's been a long time coming, but the first gameplay of Realtime Worlds' pseudo-MMO APB has been shown to the public. PAX attendees who stopped by EA's booth were allowed to view a 15-minute long in-game video demo of the title -- just for kicks, the player/commentator for the demo was none other than Epic's Mark Rein, creator of the Unreal Engine 3 upon which the title is built. Rein, who was playing as an Enforcer, was joined by Realtime's Chris Collins, who effectively played the Crockett to Rein's Tubbs.

What we saw looked less like an MMO, and more like a persistent online multiplayer cops-and-robbers game. Action isn't slow and meditated, it's fast-paced and twitchy. If you were expecting skill-filled hotbars, you're going to be disappointed -- APB is a third-person shooter, through and through.

Before Microsoft revealed that Ruffian Games would be developing the upcoming Crackdown sequel, the original game's developer, Realtime Worlds, expressed some skepticism towards the idea. "I very much doubt that Microsoft would harm an otherwise fruitful existing development relationship by gambling on funding Crackdown 2 with a startup on RTW's doorstep, for obvious reasons," RTW's Colin MacDonald said last year. Things weren't so cut and dry for self-accused Crackdown fanboy (and Microsoft exec) Phil Spencer, who recently told Develop, "When Billy Thomson, the lead designer of the game [Crackdown 1], left Realtime Worlds, there was an opportunity."

Apparently, it would seem Mr. Spencer believes Realtime Worlds is simply too busy developing APB to give a Crackdown sequel the attention it deserves. "I wanted to make sure that anything we work on is correctly nurtured ... we had to find the right team who really understood what game it is – and that was Billy [Thompson] and the team at Ruffian." Crackdown 2 will be the first game developed by Ruffian Games since the studio's inception late last year.

Like the Scottish equivalent of George and Weezie, Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds is movin' on up. Rather than a deeeluxe apartment in the sky, the company has just opened an 8,000 sq. ft. office, adding to its already existing 26,000 sq. ft. location. Quite a feat considering the company moved into its current studio less than three years ago and has only ever shipped one game.

"We've had tremendous commercial and critical success, and have done the lion's share of the work towards a successful launch of our online title APB," studio manager Colin MacDonald says in the press release, referring to the company's upcoming PC MMO. Considering the down economy and flood of layoffs we saw earlier in the year, it's always good to see some expansion -- RTW is looking to reach over 300 employees by years end. And you could be one of them, as the company wants to remind everyone that "over 40 vacancies" exist in the careers section at the Realtime Worlds website. You live in Scotland, right?

In our minds, there are three types of people in the world -- folks who want to get their hands on Realtime Worlds' cops-and-robbers MMO APB with all available haste, folks who couldn't care less about the game, and, of course, folks who are members of self-promoting indie bands. We've got great news for the first group -- you can now sign-up for the APB beta on the game's official site. The application is a bit ... thorough (ethnicity? Marital status? Income range?), but confidentiality is assured. Fret not, second group -- it's not like it's mandatory or anything.

Look lively, third group -- the recently updated APB site also has a section where you can license your music for the game's soundtrack. It has to be an original composition, however -- we're afraid you'll have to save your hardcore Postal Service covers for your throngs of MySpace fans.

[Thanks, XIII!]

MCV reports that Realtime Worlds' MMO, APB, will launch its crime-infested sandbox next March. The game will be distributed on PC and Xbox 360 by EA Partners, the same division of the publishing behemoth handling Rock Band and Left 4 Dead. This would make APB just the second MMO to hit the Xbox console and the first "next-gen" game to do so, following the 2006 re-release of 2003's Final Fantasy XI.

We're currently trying to follow up with Realtime Worlds and EA for confirmation. We'll update if we hear anything back.

Update 2: Realtime Worlds: "Realtime Worlds have only ever announced a Q1 2010 launch window. Any other dates you may see are either assumptions or speculations based on this."

Update: EA reiterated that "early 2010" is its release window, also "there are currently no plans for a 360 version."

We've all been curious about how long the Cops & Robbers gameplay presented in Realtime Worlds' APB would be capable of capturing our fleeting, razor-thin attention span. Realtime creative director Dave Jones just ... hey, have you guys seen Brüno yet? It looks pretty funny, but we -- oh, sorry. Dave Jones recently spoke with VideoGamer.com and explained that a five to ten year lifespan is "ultimately the goal" for APB.

Jones said the action-heavy MMO would endure for the same reasons Valve's long-lasting FPS Counter-Strike has. He claims it'll include elements that made the shooter so successful, such as frantic, addictive game play, as well as "leagues and stats and achievements." See, here we thought people loved Counter-Strike because it let you spray paint private parts onto battlefield walls. Our mistake.

Despite the fact that we've known about Realtime Worlds' MMO APB for almost four years now, details surrounding the game are slim. One important piece of non-existent info: What's the subscription plan going to look like? Registration fees that are too steep (or too shallow, for that matter) have been known to sink MMOs in the past. We already knew the game would have an "untraditional" payment model -- but we aren't much closer to knowing any specifics.

In a recent interview with VG247, Realtime's Dave Jones explained the game (which has cost $30 million to develop and provide server support for) will be a "traditional game that you buy," but that players won't need to "subscribe to play the game every month." He also claimed the subscription plan will be "unique" and "flexible," and will allow players to "get" why they're paying. Our guess? Realtime's going to set up a jar which players will be forced to drop nickels into whenever they curse.

Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds -- currently working on upcoming MMO All Points Bulletin -- is pretty excited about cashing in on the online market. During his keynote at the Develop conference this week, RTW exec David Jones explained his company's shift to MMO development as one with the intention of heading where "the big dollars are."

"Online ... is very, very much untapped -- it's kind of like winding the clock back 10 or 15 years," he said during the speech. Jones apparently cited Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3 as examples of games where players "invest hours" in the single-player campaign but "ten times that online" -- but isn't your game PC-only, Mr. Jones? We're not so sure, considering Jones' repeated references to "next-gen technology" throughout the keynote, 100-person servers for online play, and the recent EA partnership announcement -- though we'd be a lot more inclined to believe it if even a single MMO existed on current-gen consoles in any real capacity. When we asked RTW for comment on the possibility of APB coming to consoles, a representative told us, "There's no update on that front." Hey, we tried, right?

During his keynote at GameHorizon, Realtime Worlds Creative Director Dave Jones revealed that the company is working on a new project. The exec had no further details about the game, but stated that the first details will be revealed next year. If you want the details now, um ... we recommend getting a job at the company.

Jones noted that the unannounced game was actually the first title (pre-Crackdown) that the developer set out to build and is "very, very ambitious." The company even received $30 million in venture capital at the time to make it. Hopefully the studio will get APB out the door before talking about its next project.

Source -- Realtime Worlds reveals "very ambitious" new project
Source -- Realtime to announce second MMO next year

Imagine: Your company makes a hit game (and gets bundled with a hit beta). The publisher won't green light a sequel, so your team begins work on another franchise. Then the sequel is awarded to a developer ... in your own town, who permanently borrows your talent. With all that said, it's understandable that Realtime Worlds Creative Director David Jones was a "bit miffed at Microsoft" for giving the Crackdown sequel to start-up Ruffian Games.

Speaking with GI.biz, Jones explains that Realtime Worlds was all set to do a sequel before Crackdown's release. When the company didn't receive the go-ahead from Microsoft, it moved on to create APB. Jones wishes that Microsoft had chosen one of its shuttered internal studios to make the game instead of going with Ruffian Games, a company that's in the same town and takes from the same talent pool. He notes it's "challenging to get enough developers in one region as it is." Maybe Realtime can get the third title in the series? Trade off like Infinity Ward and Treyarch did with Call of Duty.