NA Server Name Leaked?
Many of you that are active on the forums saw a leaked name for the new server - "Liberty". This was a result of some of tests that involved momentarily putting a new server on display, which at the time was using Test server name. Good or bad news (depending on what camp you are in) the new Live server name is not Liberty, but something else entirely, which will be revealed on launch day!
New Engine Screenshots
Our team is rapidly making progress on the long-awaited Unreal Engine upgrade toward both the Console and PC releases going live this Summer. Here is another set of screenshots that share a glimpse of the dramatic visual improvements you can expect when it arrives:
As we get closer to the engine release, we will be spinning up a new OTW (online test world) for the PC game, where we will invite select community members to test the new game engine. More information will be released on the forums as we get closer to the first OTW test. The initial engine test will require that your system has DX11 (including a DX11 capable graphics card) and Windows 7 64-bit or later. Once these tests are completed we are still anticipating making a back-port to support DX9/DX10 cards, but the game will likely at minimum require 64-bit only systems going forward.
Making the game 64-bit only solves several long-standing memory management and performance issues that we are happy to finally put behind us. But it does mean that a small percentage of machines currently used to play APB will need a new OS in order to continue playing.
Final Thoughts
We are excited about the upcoming North American server merge as we think it will be great for all NA players. Also we are very excited to see the return of many players after the EU merge was completed last week as well as the return of some players that took a brief GTA-V hiatus in the past month (which may have included some of our own team that went to check it out). Also a huge thanks to those who continue supporting the game through in-game purchases, giving us the ability to complete these great upgrades and continuing to deliver the unique creature that's APB.
Wish us good luck on the NA server merge on Tuesday, and we are thrilled to finally being that much closer to the PC engine and the Console versions nearing the completion of their very long development journeys. As soon as we can share all release dates we will, the timing of which is in part driven by when our publisher announces the final Console release date.
See you in San Paro!
