Full story about the layoffs can be found on Kotaku- 
http://kotaku.com/5612289/apb-developer-realtime-worlds-hit-with-major-layoffs
 
After reading this I browsed through the APB forums, both NA and EU. Theres a lot of doomsday propaganda from the players there who seem to think the sky is falling, moderators are saying otherwise and keep quoting that the game will continue to be supported by RTW.
 
One thing players have noticed however, is that 3 and 6 month subscription plans have now vanished from the accounts page. In a thread on the NA forums, it was stated that this change will have an announcement to follow shortly. In my opinion, I think RTW finally realised that this game will get a steady decline in business with the current subscription plan. They've removed the large gametime purchases and within the next month or two will phase it out entirely, going  the way of Global Agenda, buy 2 play, which I've got to say, is fantastic news.
 
I feel that a game like this really needs, to save it from certain oblivion within the next 2 years, is a steady influx of players thanks to removal of subscription fees. After all, looking at the plethora of games available on the pc it doesn't take a genius to work out that there are better shooter experiences with no monthly cost, but none of them have the edge of customisation that APB can offer to players. Its simply an edge that isn't a big enough justificiation for handing over your money month after month.
 
Hopefully this POSSIBLE change will spark a little interest in the game, maybe even help RTW get back on their feet after what appears to be a dark turn for the studio.

BUMP!  
 
I found this funny. And a sign of APB starting to fall. Taking away your long term subs can mean only a few things..one of which being they will no longer charge to play. 

This game starts to get slightly more appealing without subscription fees.

" This game starts to get slightly more appealing without subscription fees. "

So now this game totally IS Guild Wars with guns...

" @The_Laughing_Man:  you found it funny people are losing their job's? "

Man,some of those threads on their forum.

They never should have gone subscription in the first place.  Smart money was on establishing a user base, then finding a way to charge them for optional shit they don't really need.  They could still turn it around, but they've made it way harder than if they'd just gone that route to start with.  Other games have been turned around by ditching subs before though, so it's not necessarily a lost cause just yet.
 
That other game they were working on looked terrible, so no great loss there apart from the job losses.  RTW needs to be a bit more realistic about their ability and not keep overreaching.  Dave Jones - much like Tim Schafer - isn't compromising enough to succeed in the modern AAA market imo.  That isn't necessarily a bad trait, it just means they can either choose to make smaller games and succeed, or keep trying to make AAA games and fail.

APB is a janky piece of crap; how people could pay MONTHLY to play it is beyond me. This is a step in the right direction, but it won't be enough to prevent the relatively quick obsolescence of APB.