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EA Reportedly Giving Out Free Games To APB Owners

Fun fact: talking to EA support is more valuable than playing APB.

So, you bought Realtime Worlds' now-dead MMO APB this summer (whoops!) and now you'd like your money back. Brick-and-mortar isn't going to give you a refund because of piracy and, well, just because, but it's possible that EA will provide you some sort of compensation. In a recent thread on the Steam forums, there are claims that the game's distributor, via its support line, is offering a free EA-published game to disgruntled purchasers of APB. It's also alternatively offering $20 vouchers towards an EA game purchase and, in one case, 4000 BioWare Points for whatever you want to spend them on.

And as if that wasn't enough, it appears as if people who bought digital copies of the game via the EA store are receiving full refunds, according to a recent Gamasutra post. The catch is that you'll have to provide an unlock key, though even that is being called into question.
 

No Caption Provided

As previously reported, Realtime Worlds won't be refunding any real cash to players with funny money locked up in the failed MMO, and to be fair the studio isn't really in any condition to do so, considering the recent closure of its Dundee and Colorado offices. (Realtime doesn't even have a website anymore, as if you needed another indication of how things are going.) So, dealing with EA support is probably the only way to get anything back, and thankfully, the publisher wants to score some brownie points with those who got burned. Give it a shot, if you've got the time. It's not like you'll be busy playing APB or anything!

68 Comments

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Lind_L_Taylor

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Edited By Lind_L_Taylor
@Sneaky_Gopher said:
" I think the life time subscription was for Star Trek. I wonder how thats doing... "
It's alive & kicking. Forums are still active & alive, fortunately.
I'm actually thinking about getting back into it now they've
added more content to the game.
 
APB. Epic Fail.
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Alex_Murphy

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Edited By Alex_Murphy

They should give everybody full refunds, considering they released the game before it was done.

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Pinworm45

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Edited By Pinworm45

He told me they wouldn't give me a full refund since I purchased from Steam a third party thing. I know a few people who got it on steam were able to get full games, but I didn't want to press my luck and get nothing so I got a 25% off coupon for anything on the EA store. Better than nothing, I guess.

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SeriouslyNow

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Edited By SeriouslyNow
@Pinworm45 said:
" He told me they wouldn't give me a full refund since I purchased from Steam a third party thing. I know a few people who got it on steam were able to get full games, but I didn't want to press my luck and get nothing so I got a 25% off coupon for anything on the EA store. Better than nothing, I guess. "
Uh, he's wrong.  I'd complain.  Steam is a First Party EA Partner reseller because VALVe part of the 'EA Partners' program.
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Pinworm45

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Edited By Pinworm45
@SeriouslyNow said:
" @Pinworm45 said:
" He told me they wouldn't give me a full refund since I purchased from Steam a third party thing. I know a few people who got it on steam were able to get full games, but I didn't want to press my luck and get nothing so I got a 25% off coupon for anything on the EA store. Better than nothing, I guess. "
Uh, he's wrong.  I'd complain.  Steam is a First Party EA Partner reseller because VALVe part of the 'EA Partners' program. "
Well, I doubt they'll give me more when I'm complaining. Whatever, 25% off something is more than I expected.
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Xeiphyer

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Edited By Xeiphyer
@onarum said:
" @Xeiphyer said:
" I'm glad that EA is doing this, its a good way to show they care. "
They don't, this is just PR, nothing more. "
I didn't say that they actually Do care, but its a good way to show that they do nonetheless. I'm sure Bobby Kotick would have just told them to go fuck themselves and buy COD: Black Ops
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dSlice

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Edited By dSlice

APB?

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meteora

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Edited By meteora
@Xeiphyer said:
" @onarum said:
" @Xeiphyer said:
" I'm glad that EA is doing this, its a good way to show they care. "
They don't, this is just PR, nothing more. "
I didn't say that they actually Do care, but its a good way to show that they do nonetheless. I'm sure Bobby Kotick would have just told them to go fuck themselves and buy COD: Black Ops "
Yeah PR goes a long way; a huge difference between EA and Activision.
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Ash_F

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Edited By Ash_F

I just pulled this quote from RtW's old hiring site: 


 


If you’re looking for your first job in games, it’s worth thinking very carefully about your future employer. Do you want to work on jaded, derivative titles that receive scathing reviews and go straight to the bargain bin? Do you want to work large amounts of unpaid overtime because your project is underfunded and poorly managed? Do you want to work on codebases that are messy and poorly-designed because there’s never time to do things properly? Do you want to live in fear of your company’s financial security? 

It’s sad that these and other games industry horror stories are more frequent than they should be, but it’s not like that here


  It's so sad it is almost beautiful. o_O 
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thecashewkid

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Edited By thecashewkid

The more I read about this whole APB debacle, the harder it is to believe that any of this actually happened. 

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NekuSakuraba

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Edited By NekuSakuraba
@Ash_F
I just pulled this quote from RtW's old hiring site: 


 


If you’re looking for your first job in games, it’s worth thinking very carefully about your future employer. Do you want to work on jaded, derivative titles that receive scathing reviews and go straight to the bargain bin? Do you want to work large amounts of unpaid overtime because your project is underfunded and poorly managed? Do you want to work on codebases that are messy and poorly-designed because there’s never time to do things properly? Do you want to live in fear of your company’s financial security? 

It’s sad that these and other games industry horror stories are more frequent than they should be, but it’s not like that here


  It's so sad it is almost beautiful. o_O 
Wow, that is sad. :(
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deactivated-5a1d45de5ef23

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@Branthog said:
" You can't return the game to the store you bought it from, because any store that sells games doesn't give you a 90 day return policy. If you had just bought it a week ago and they went out of business, you sure as hell bet you can get your money refunded almost anywhere.  People need to stop being sheep. "Well, a sign at the store says this thing, so that must be ten lawz!".  I returned Anarchy Online about a month after it was released, for a full refund, because the game remained unplayable (about 3fps at best, when it could even be connected to . . . and then usually disconnecting players shortly after). "
i really tried to read wtf you were trying to say, but alas, its impossible to decipher what the fuck you are writing
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R4ZOR

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Edited By R4ZOR

seriously? that was pretty much a fail game.

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liquefiedvapor

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Edited By liquefiedvapor

Noice!
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SpannerX

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Edited By SpannerX

I saw the box just yesterday while in a Futureshop, as it was it was priced at $59!  Maybe someone should inform the store that the servers are down?  I just couldn't bring myself to do it. 

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Raven10

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Edited By Raven10
@Cybexx said:
"Is it just me or does the failure of APB and the less-than-stellar Crackdown 2 speak volumes about why and how the original Crackdown succeeded? "

I liked both Crackdowns. I think I'm the only one though...
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Arca266

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Edited By Arca266

It's a shame. I thought APB looked good too. Any chance of any other companies picking up the rights to APB and Crackdown?

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Piranesi

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Edited By Piranesi

This month's Edge article on the rise and fall of APB / Realtime Worlds makes interesting and scary reading.  
 
I'm sure this will become a Business 101 case study in the future - especially the part where you let the creative talent run the company. You can't keep your feet on the ground if your head is in the clouds.