The official Twitter account for APB Reloaded, the free-to-play relaunch of the troubled MMO shooter by GamersFirst, says that the closed beta of the new version will begin as soon as next month. Information will reportedly be sent out to interested parties (presumably including former APB players, though you can sign up on the official site as well) this week. Then, in February, closed beta servers will come back online as the game gets its second chance to succeed.

GamersFirst told Joystiq recently that its first priority is to "get the game up and live again" and then drop an unreleased patch, open up some of the zones originally locked to free players and, finally, institute microtransaction plans and offerings like premium accounts. The company also plans to target new markets with the game, specifically Brazil and South America. Here's hoping the second go-round turns out better than the first one did.