APB Reloaded launched for a 2nd time under a new publisher, Gamersfirst, over 1 year ago on Steam. Today, they were happy to anounce that during this time they have remained in the Top 5 most popular Free-To-Play games on Steam.

Currently, APB Reloaded is residing at a keen 4th spot on the Free-To-Play section of Steam, beating out games like DC Universe Online, Lord of the Rings Online, and Star Trek Online. APB is also gearing up for a new patch they are calling "Settling the Score" which will include some quality of life features like a new method of selecting your spawnpoint, a re-balanced scoring system that takes into account all the ways you've contributed to stopping or promoting crime, and an improved District (Instance) system.

If you haven't had a chance to jump in and try APB Reloaded for yourself, now is a great time to start the download through Steam and see if it's ultra-customizable, cops and robbers-style gameplay is your thing.

- Josh "Vazzaroth" Hagood

Exciting news for APB Reloaded fans! Following the release of APB Reloaded on Steam, the game has now surpassed an incredible three million registered users. On top of that, APB Reloaded is currently sitting at second place on Steam's "Most Popular" Free-to-Play games, coming in second only to Team Fortress 2. Seems like players are really digging this game!

Remember, you can either pick up APB Reloaded for a retail price of $29.99 to get more than $50 worth of in-game items, or you can check out the game via Steam to get going. If you're curious to see just what kind of changes GamersFirst has done with APB Reloaded since last year, be sure to check out ZAM's Exclusive Interview with the team!

*** Want a headstart on your APB Reloaded adventures? Just follow @ZAMOfficial on Twitter and retweet the interview for a chance at a 7-Day Rental of a Gold Tier Weapon! Enforcers get a Quick Reload Shotgun while Criminals get a Heavy Assault Machine Gun! ***

I'm sure everyone remembers the disastrous launch of All Points Bulletin which ultimately culminated in APB's doors shutting a mere few months later. The game itself, however, showed great promise, so when GamersFirst picked up the rights to APB and decided to relaunch it in 2011 as a free-to-play MMO under the name "APB Reloaded," I was very curious indeed. F2P models just seem to work very well with MMOFPS games, and given APB's incredible spread of player customization, a microtransaction model simply makes sense.

Of course, GamersFirst knew this when they purchased All Points Bulletin back in 2010, but instead of just "flipping" it with a sloppy F2P system, Reloaded Productions (a developer subsidiary of GamersFirst) decided to take an extra year to really notch up the quality of the game. The end result of their hard work would be APB Reloaded, and to celebrate the game's launch, ZAM Staff Writer Paul "LockColeMA" Cleveland sat down with the team to talk about what went into rebuilding this MMOFPS and what players can expect from this newly reborn MMO. He spoke to Rahul Sandil (RS), SVP of Marketing and Business and Development, Myra Widodo (MW), Producer of APB Reloaded, and Bjorn Book-Larsson (BBL), COO and CTO of GamersFirst, as well as CEO of Reloaded Productions. 

Annnnnd we're back! It seems like GamersFirst was successful in reviving troubled FPSMMO All Points Bulletin, and now this GTA-esque MMORPG is making its way to physical and digital retailers around the world. Dubbed "APB Reloaded," the game has since gone free-to-play with a bevy of modifications to make the revenue model transition work within the game.

With this launch also comes a brand new feature to APB Reloaded called "Fight Club." In Fight Club, players will be able to enter instanced combat zones that can hold up to 32 players at a time, therey making for a more focused gameplay experience. It sounds like GamersFirst has put in a lot of effort for this relaunch, so head on over to Steam or the Official APB Reloaded website to check it out!

When I hear about live-action trailers for video games, I tend to cringe, but APB Reloaded's new trailer is surprisingly well done! In this new release, titled "Be All You Can't Be," reality and virtual reality blend to make a smooth milkshake of a video. They've also pulled in some Youtube superstars (hello Katersoneseven!) as cameos for internet street cred, and judging by the comments on the video, it seems like the tactic worked. I was hoping there would be rocket launchers or grenades involved, but I guess that wouldn't have been a good idea. Sigh.

GamersFirst CTO and COO Bjorn "TechMech" Book-Larsson has written his first APB: Reloaded blog entry in more than a month, and it's a lengthy article on the open beta's "home stretch." As GamesFirst prepares for APB's official launch, the team is focusing on three issues that have been brought up from player feedback:

• Lack of Player Control: Book-Larsson talks about the "inability to pick the types of missions and gameplay you like to play when you want to play them." In response, GamersFirst will be introducing "insta-match content for players to experience."
• Cheaters: They're working on ways to combat aimbots and wallhacks. There is also the "pereception" of cheating going on, such as your opponent "snapping" to you and "magic bullets" that seem to hit you every time. These are issues with the game and are not cheats.
• The Evils of Threat Levels: "Threat Level (or ELO rankings or Glicko Rankings) should actually never be a driving factor for your enjoyment of the game, but partly because of how they are presented, it's become the ultimate status symbol," Book-Larson said. In response, the team is "working on a drastically different way of representing Threat Level and progression in the game."

Book-Larsson covers all of this in much more detail in his blog entry, so be sure to read it for more in-depth information.

UPDATE, 9/1: We've already given out a bunch of swag, but we still have more! We'll be giving out more prizes next week after Labor Day Weekend. Be sure to check your Twitter messages! While we have only a limited amount of physical things we can ship, we have tons of codes to give away, so keep your eyes peeled.

Gamescom may have come to an end, but the summer convention season isn't over just yet! PAX Prime will be held in downtown Seattle from August 26-28 and we'll have members of the ZAM team on the floor, including Director of Content Cody "Micajah" Bye. He'd love to give out PAX swag to some lucky readers, and all he wants in return is more followers on Twitter!

We'll be giving away PAX gear to people who follow @ZAMOfficial and @CodyBye on Twitter. The more followers the pages get before PAX, the more chances you'll have to win prizes. Check out the constantly updated prize list after the jump to see what you could get simply by clicking the "follow" button!

Interactive Gaming Software announced today that it will distribute a retail version of APB: Reloaded in North America. The game's free-to-play, but the box will be filled with in-game items and perks. Here are the details:

"The suggested $29.95 retail version of APB Reloaded will include more than $50 worth of in-game items, including a permanent in-game high-performance vehicle, a permanent in-game weapon and 30 days of premium access that provides increased cash rewards, reputation gains and a 20 percent in-store discount. APB Reloaded will be released early in November 2011."

If any of that sounds familiar, Interactive Gaming Software CEO and founder Paul Lombardi posted on his Facebook last month that the APB retail version was in the works. GamersFirst stated at the time that it hadn't picked a retail partner, but it looks like they indeed decided to team up with IGS to distribute the box.

In similar news, [a]list games has partnered with GamersFirst to launch a major marketing campaign for APB: Reloaded. "We’re thrilled to join GamersFirst in an effort to incent more people, including those accustomed to console-quality games, to give it a try," said Steve Fowler, GM of [a]list games.

Do you want to earn some in-game 3D glasses in both APB: Reloaded and Fallen Earth? Then you might want to play Fallen Earth through Monday, July 25. To make up for some potential downtime that may occur in APB while the team implements version 1.5.2, GamersFirst has provided an incentive for APB players to try out Fallen Earth this weekend. Here are the details:

• Make a Fallen Earth trial account using the same e-mail as the G1 account you use for APB.
• Hit level 7 in Fallen Earth from July 20-25 to earn the 3D glasses in both games.
• All prizes will be given out during the first week of August.

GamersFirst recently acquired Fallen Earth and will be making the game free-to-play later this year.

Mike B. aka Fony is back with another BFF Report, and this time he's diving back into APB: Reloaded! Longtime viewers may remember that Fony checked out the game when it was still All Points Bulletin (watch part 1 and part 2 if you missed them), but a lot has changed in a year. The game's now free-to-play under GamersFirst, so Fony decided to play around in the open beta to see what's new with APB.

Fony talks about the cash shop, progression, combat, vehicles (dump truck, woooo!) and much more in this episode. He even makes a Negative pH van, which you can see above.

Click here to watch BFF Report episode 73 and learn all about APB: Reloaded!