All Points Bulletin (APB) is a massively multiplayer online freeform combat and driving-based game, designed by the creator of the original Grand Theft Auto (GTA) franchise. Developed by Real Time Worlds Ltd. and published by global online entertainment company, WEBZEN Inc., APB brings players into a living, breathing city where cash is king and territory equals respect. In a fight to dominate the expansive world of APB, players must decide which side of the law to abide by, as Law Enforcement who take on the challenge of supporting and safeguarding justice, or as Gangs, who operate against the law and any opposing groups by any means necessary. APB will provide players with the ultimate customization options from their weapons, vehicles and clothes to their attitude, music and environment.

A genre-breaking game unlike any other in the MMO space, "All Points Bulletin" offers intense game play in a highly volatile world filled with dramatic car chases, shootouts, busts, escapes and arrests. Players can also enjoy a fully customizable gaming experience without leveling-up constraints, allowing them to choose character appearances, attitudes, music preferences and more. In addition, many actions throughout the game will result in cash rewards, enabling players to obtain advanced weaponry, vehicles and other items to further enhance their characters.

From the effect of explosions on nearby objects, to the impacts of car accidents, to how a character reacts when hit, physics is as important to realism as high-quality graphics. Because of this, Realtime Worlds’ upcoming massively multiplayer online game, APB, will take advantage of NVIDIA® GeForce® GPUs and PhysX™ technology to enhance the game’s free-form combat and real-time driving environments.

“Realtime Worlds, by our very name, defines what games we aim to create,” said Dave Jones, the CEO of Realtime Worlds. “APB is a vastly ambitious project, combining the key elements of action gameplay in a living, breathing world with millions of players around the globe. In order to fully realise the vision of APB, it was essential to include next-generation physics in our game world. This is why we choose to standardize our development on GeForce GPUs and NVIDIA PhysX technology, the combination of which has given our developers the power and freedom to deliver the first action and physics based combat gameplay into the massively multiplayer online space.”

NVIDIA PhysX technology consists of a robust physics engine, API, and middleware platform that give developers the ability to add additional levels of realism into their games across all major gaming platforms, including Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and the PC. PhysX technology can run on either the CPU or any CUDA general-purpose parallel computing processor, including many current and all future NVIDIA GeForce GPUs. But the massively parallel architecture in GeForce GPUs can handle 10 to 20 times more visual complexity than what’s possible today on a CPU alone and can leverage the best of both GPU and CPU architectures to deliver the ultimate experience to the user. More importantly, PhysX supports hardware scaling with the GeForce GPUs to deliver much faster performance and richer environments on multi-GPU gaming platforms.

“We are very excited that Realtime Worlds is incorporating PhysX technology into APB,” said Roy Taylor, NVIDIA vice president of content relations. “APB is a marvel in free form story innovation and promises to bring an entirely new approach to multiplayer online gaming. We can hardly wait to play!”

Features:

• APB is a genre-breaking game unlike any other in the MMO market in which Gangs commit crimes and Law Enforcement try to stop them, resulting in dramatic chases, shoot-outs, busts, escapes and arrests. A wide range of action-based activities are supported. Those winning an encounter gain kudos and cash, and the cash can be spent on advanced weaponry, vehicles and other kits. Players can carry out these activities individually, or band together into groups.
• Both Gangs and Law Enforcement will continuously attempt to capture key areas of the city and expand their spheres of influence. These ‘turf areas’ offer access to the best items, while persistently displaying their owner’s status and symbols. Territory is vulnerable 24/7, with players constantly engaged in battles for control. For periods when they are not online, players must upgrade their defenses – changing turf features or equipping AI adequately – or run the risk of losing their turf to a rival Gang or Squad. Capturing multiple turf areas is a progressively harder challenge, but provides correspondingly better rewards.
• Gangs of APB live and breathe graffiti, attitude, customized cars and earning cash any way possible. Law Enforcement uphold honor, teamwork, advanced weaponry, and the destruction of Gangs. Players will determine how their characters live and grow in the APB world without typical MMO leveling-up constraints. Players create the ultimate customized experience with vehicles, weapons, clothes, music, attitude, and environment. From tailoring characters’ looks to creating catalogues of shared elements to define identity, every crew can have a unique, custom look from hair and clothing down to the way they walk, talk and the music they play.