Realtime Worlds’ creative director, Dave Jones, believes the online market is full of untapped potential for game developers.

Speaking at the Develop conference in Brighton, Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings creator Jones begun by outlining some of the game design principles to which he adheres. He said that games should employ simple building blocks that gamers can play around with and use to mould there own experiences. He also noted that keeping the style of a game contemporary and making it humorous are hugely helpful in breaking down barriers.

Most importantly, Jones said that his ultimate goal with any project is to innovate and attempt to forge a new genre. He explained that with Crackdown Realtime had managed to tick all of the boxes apart from this one. He noted that the developer was keen to have another go with a sequel, but that publisher Microsoft was initially hesitant to commit to Crackdown 2 until it had a better idea of the first game’s sales. Jones believes the title’s success took the platform holder by surprise, but by the time it was ready to green light a sequel Realtime had moved on.

The proliferation of gaming platforms and business models means that “it’s a very confusing time now for developers [when considering] where they’re going to go,” according to Jones. While Realtime looked at growing markets including iPhone, social gaming and free-to-play, he said online was the only way to go for a developer intent on making big budget titles like Realtime. He cited the success of the Call Of Duty, Halo and Gears Of War franchises, noting that players often spend ten times as long playing in multiplayer as they do in single player.

While Jones believes the move online has done little but create problems for the film and music industries, he suggested the space is largely “untapped” and full of potential for the games industry. “It's like moving the clock back 15 years,” opening up opportunities for innovation and creating new experiences and genres, he said.

Jones believes it's crucial for Realtime to create a game experience with APB that players “can’t get anywhere else.” APB’s user experience will be based around three central concepts – creativity, celebrity and conflict. Being a server-based title, Jones said that APB would achieve what hasn’t been possible to date with games like Grand Theft Auto. “For the first time ever we mean a persistent world,” he said. The game will support up to 100 players per server. It won’t feature lobbies, instead dynamically matching players in real time.

Jones said APB will offer deep but accessible character and vehicle creation tools, and a music creation tool that that allows players to attach their signature tracks and sounds to in-game actions. For example, a player taking on the role of a criminal can ensure that his dying rivals hear his custom ‘death tune’ every time he makes a kill, or a gamer playing the role of enforcer can attach his custom music to the siren of his car.

“For the first time ever,” Realtime also wants to make players famous in the game, Jones said. As well as tracking a host of player performance statistics and providing league tables, the developer plans to make sure that a character’s status is displayed in the game world. One example of this is erecting statues in the game of players that have performed well, so that other players come to recognise their face and reputation.