Xbox 360 Fanboy

Big news comes from Realtime Worlds today with word that they are putting their recently acquired $50 million to work, acquiring the global distribution rights to their upcoming MMO All Points Bulletin.

GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that Realtime Worlds purchased the APB distribution rights back from Webzen to "ensure that gamers around the globe experience the revolutionary gameplay we envisioned when we first began creating the property." We aren't sure exactly what their global release plans entail or how much they had to put up for the rights, but we're sure they didn't come cheap. Lesson learned kids. When sleeping with Webzen and things turn sour, know that you'll have to buy your way out of the relationship. That said, you could probably apply that lesson to all relationships you encounter.

Realtime Worlds and Webzen dropped an MMO bombshell today during their "My first MMO" GDC panel, officially revealing (for the first time) All Points Bulletin. And it's impressive.

APB is a cops and robbers, Crackdown / GTAIV hybrid, open world MMO that'll do away with the tediousness (or the "grind") that traditional RPG based MMOs are known for, focusing more on the community and the world. Customization will be key, as every player will be able to completely makeover their in-game character, changing things from hairstyle to eye color to whether or not a tshirt is tucked in. That same level of customization lends itself to vehicles as well. Realtime Worlds also revealed that APB will not have a leveling up system, instead players will be rewarded by gaining more and more character customization options. Realtime then showed off a quick pursuit demo where a group of cops had to band together to take apprehend some TV stealing thugs. The placeholder graphics aren't great, but we get the idea and yes ... it's delicious. Make the jump to read Joystiq's APB impressions and learn why APB is where you'll wanna be.

[Thanks, xenocidic]