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Realtime Worlds’ Dave Jones hopes characters created in upcoming online action game APB will achieve Fatal1ty-like celebrity status.
Players in APB, due out for PC early next year, will be able to create a unique look for their characters, powered by an impressive set of customisation tools.
Fatal1ty, real name Johnathan Wendel, is a professional gamer who has carved celebrity status for himself as a result of his skill at first-person shooters Quake and Counter-Strike.
He went on to start his own business, Fatal1ty, Inc., selling Fatal1ty-branded gaming gear.
And Jones hopes characters created in APB, described as a “GTA MMO”, will be able to achieve similar status through their player-controlled exploits in his game.
“I want players to become celebrities,” he told VideoGamer.com at the recent Develop conference in Brighton.
“I suppose what I really mean by that is it would be good if they truly do become a celebrity – if there’s a player or a clan that achieves such amazing status in the game, that they effectively transcend the game, and be known as effectively that name or that clan.
“It’s happened with individual players. You probably remember guys who used to play Counter-Strike… Fatal1ty – he was an individual player. He was the first, but I’d like to achieve the same thing for their game character or their clan.
“It’s happened with World of Warcraft. You have the top EU guild, Nihilum – people start to achieve for the first time ever celebrity status from within the game. I think that’s very, very cool. I think that’s very, very powerful. With APB we’ve got the tools that visually they can be different as well. You have Nihilum the name, but really they look like any other guild, that’s the way the game works, but here’s a chance for them now to be actual individual game characters. So I think if we can really push that and really make it work, that will be the first time anyone’s managed to create real celebrities from their gaming characters.”
Head over to our APB game page for more on one of 2010’s most promising games.
Will you be able to become a gaming celeb like Fatal1ty from playing APB? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
