It's a story that's both happy and tragic, like a mother being reunited with her long lost child, and then limited to a few hours of visitation per month.

David Jones is the man who unleashed Grand Theft Auto upon the world. That studio would later become Rockstar North while Jones went on to found Realtime Worlds and create Crackdown and APB. The latter was a commercial bomb and was shut down a mere three months after launch and Realtime Worlds was thrown on the chopping block.

Jones has now signed on with Reload Productions; the company redeveloping the canceled MMO as APB: Reloaded on behalf of the new publisher, GamersFirst. As APB: Reloaded approaches open-beta, Jones will hold an "advisory role" and "share his vast game design experience" on a game that was supposed to be his masterpiece.

It has to sting, at least a little.