Why build it from scratch? Can't they just port the existing assets like models, textures, animations, sound etc over and build the same game on the new engine. They already have the entire game build, so there is no need for creating new ideas or concepts and mechanics to begin with. APB is quite old, so its fairly simplistic in detail - flat terain, empty boring streets, and couple braindead pedestrians
. Apart from the customisation there aren't some very complex mechanics involved. Even with a small team I believe it should be posible. Just take a look at this -
I mean if one person can do this in 2 months using existing assets, Why can't a dev team with 15 - 20 people rebuild APB in UE5 in lets say 2 years.
And there goes the dream lol.