10,000 closed beta keys gone in 10 hours?  Wow!  That’s what SilverBirch Inc. and G4Box Inc. are claiming regarding the recent launch of their premier free-to-play, first person shooter, Cross Fire.

The closed beta went live on November 7th, and runs for approximately one month, during which time, fraggers can participate in one of Cross Fire’s four hair raising game zones.  Cross Fire is looking on target for a January 2009 commercial launch, but gamers can continue to download the game for free at www.crossfire-en.com.

“The response to the English version of Cross Fire has far exceeded our expectations,” said Kevin Astle, Interim President and CEO of SilverBirch. “Cross Fire’s fast-paced action, superb graphics and compelling features have already made it a hotly anticipated game among English-language gamers.”

While already a hit in Asian markets, Cross Fire has received 1.9M hits leading up to the November 7th launch, two-thirds of which coming from right here in the US.  The Asian market version has received millions of registered players, and has an excess of 500,000 users regularly playing the game together online at any given time, all within a short nine month time period.  Not Bad.  Not bad at all.

“Cross Fire has been a huge success in China, Japan, Vietnam and other Asian markets,” said Howard He, CEO of G4Box, noting that the game is now more popular in Vietnam than World of Warcraft. “Based on the positive initial response from North American gamers, we look forward to replicating this success for the English-language version.”

The Game

Cross Fire is a CounterStrike killer in more ways than one.  The storyline focuses around two international mercenary forces duking it out for domination.  Players chose their side; either Black List terrorist or Global Risk mercenary.  They then join an online team of fellow FPSers and must work together to complete objective based scenarios.  The game features four game modes: Team Death Match, Team Match, Annihilation Match, and the new Ghost Match.  Players receive xp points based on game play and performance and are promoted through various military ranks.

The Cash

SilverBirch and G4Box will monetize the free-to-play title via a microtransaction based in-game item shop.  Here, players can customize their characters to their heart’s delight including appearance and equipment.  Both companies forecast revenue generation shortly after the January 2009 official release.

Interested players should head on over to FilePlanet to obtain an exclusive closed beta key.  Cross Fire is even sweetening the deal by offering current participants the ability to invite up to 10 friends to join them on the battlefield.  Grab this one now while it’s hot!