APB Player Stats Released As Former RealTime Worlds Staff Allegedly Goes Unpaid

In its ongoing quest for a buyer, RealTime Worlds recently released its first set of player statistics for the under-performing open-world social shooter All Points Bulletin that got the developer so deeply in debt.

The figures show that APB currently has more than 130,000 registered users who play an average of four hours per day. "Paying players" spend an average of $28 per month, a dollar figure that combines both subscription time spent as well as peer-to-peer in-game marketplace trading. Ironically, this gives APB the highest "revenue per paying user" of any other subscription-based game on the market.

An article featuring some quotes from a couple of ex-RealTime Worlds employees on gamesindustry.biz also sheds some light into the darker corners of the corporate collapse. Perhaps the biggest concern, was voiced by former RealTime Worlds employee, Luke Halliwell, on his personal blog. He asserts that many employees weren't paid for their last month of work (or unused vacation or holidays). American staff who had recently moved to Scotland to work at RealTime Worlds also found themselves having to move back to the states with little notice and even less assistance.

"It started to feel like Realtime Worlds was a massive dinosaur, building these massive things that nobody wanted," said Luke, explaining that many people on the team were deeply concerned about the game's potential, leading up to its release.

Perhaps the most scathing zingers came from Halliwell's wife, Lucy, when she commented on her husband's blog post. She didn't have much nice to say about RealTime execs Dave Jones and Ian Hetherington:

Dave Jones and Ian Hetherington have pissed away millions, they are getting away with not paying over 200 employees for the work that they have done and have fiddled their way to being able to buy back Project: MyWorld for cheap.

Moreover these very people have enough personal wealth to pay the money owed to the individuals and families whose lives they have left shattered, heck Dave could probably pay them all just by selling one of his beloved cars.