APB Payment Model, Release Date, Pre-Order Bonuses Revealed

Realtime Worlds' cops vs. robbers MMO APB will run under a pay-as-you-play payment model when it launches on June 29, publisher EA announced today. Fifty hours of playtime is included with the $50 full game, which will run down as players enagag

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Realtime Worlds' cops vs. robbers MMO APB will run under a pay-as-you-play payment model when it launches on June 29, publisher EA announced today.

Fifty hours of playtime is included with the $50 full game, which will run down as players enagage in Grand Theft Auto-style shenanigans in APB's 'Action' districts. Once their time has run out, players can pony up $6.99 for an extra twenty hours' playtime. The game's combat-free 'Social' districts will not drain players' time at all.

Alternatively, players can simply pay $9.99 for thirty days of unlimited play--with discounted ninety- and 180-day packages on offer--similar to a regular MMO subscription or apparently even pay for their game time with earned virtual currency.

"We wanted to provide a simple and flexible way for occasional and core players alike to pay for their play without being financially tethered to the game," explained Realtime Worlds founder David Jones. "The model also provides an opportunity for customers to subsidize their costs by leveraging their talent or market savvy in the 'points' Marketplace. Highly talented players could potentially even play for free in this way."

APB will be released for PC on June 29 in North America, July 1 in mainland Europe and July 2 in the UK. Pre-ordering provides the bonuses of exclusive in-game cars, clothing and emotes--pictured above--as well as 'APB VIP' early access plus access to the 'Key to the City' demo.

There's still no word on the once-planned Xbox 360 release, a subject which Realtime Worlds has been quiet on for quite some time.

The following pair of short trailers from EA's European wing show off the pre-order bonus items in-game and seem to indicate that, in Europe at least, they might be split between 'standard' and 'exclusive' editions.

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