Last week, APB was reported to have been purchased by GamersFirst (part of K2 Network). That report has now been confirmed. APB has been saved from the wreckage left behind by Realtime Worlds. It will be resurrected during the first half of 2011. APB will be stripped of its subscription model, and will now be presented as one of GamerFirst’s free-to-play games.

When APB was shut down, a lot of players were displaced. Some companies tried to swoop in and satisfy former APB player’s need to shoot things. Some stores aren’t even aware APB isn’t in service anymore. If you’re feeling a bit ripped off (and why wouldn’t you?), you can try to contact EA customer support for reimbursement.

Yesterday (September 21, 2010) I was at Target looking for a copy of Civilization 5 (GameStop had sold out). I was scanning the “C” section of the shelves that housed PC games when I happened to glance towards the games filed under “A” and “B”. Yup there’s BioShock and Alpha Protocol and…All Points Bulletin (APB)? What is it still doing here?

It didn’t take long for another company to start salvaging the remains of APB. Hi-Rez Studios, makers of Global Agenda, has reached out to displaced APB players in an effort to obtain their business. From today (September 18, 2010) to Friday (September 24, 2010) all new Global Agenda players will get 30% off on their purchase.

The hopes of Realtime Worlds being acquired by a savior company appears to be lost. Realtime Worlds has let go 50 of its remaining staff as the company prepares to officially shut down. Seven temporary employees remain as they work to discontinue services related to APB. There has also been speculation the recently laid off employees would not be receiving redundancy pay.

The past month has been really rough on Realtime Worlds. Due to crippling financial problems, the company was forced to go into administration. Dozens of employees lost their jobs at once. Some never received payment for the work they did prior to being let go. Although some part of Realtime Worlds was salvaged, APB didn’t make the cut.

Reatime Worlds has fallen on hard times. The company is in deep financial troubles and had to layoff a large number of employees while struggling to stay in business. A small number of staff were re-hired to work on MyWorld, but some of those who were not asked to come back are left in dire straights. One former Realtime Worlds employee took to his personal blog to voice his disgust with what happened to himself and the rest of his colleagues.

Well, some of them.

During the past week we have heard all about Scottish developer Realtime Worlds’ issues with administration (“administration” is the UK version of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection).

The reason for administration is pretty obvious: The critical and commercial panning of All Points Bulletin.

All Points Bulletin currently has a Metacritic average score of 58 out of 100. If we were to equate that to a typical grading scale within a school, APB would be seen as failing. These low review scores impacted the game in a negative way. Realtime Worlds, in a sense, bet it all on APB. Now the company has entered administration as it struggles to stay open.

Yesterday we told you about Realtime World’s financial problems. The studio was confirmed to have entered administration this week, which means the company’s affairs have been taken over by a corporate rescue firm. Realtime Worlds is holding on by a thread, but there may be hope for the troubled developer.