Square Enix has officially announced Sleeping Dogs, the new name of dropped Activision open-world title, True Crime: Hong Kong.
The United Front Games (ModNation Racers) developed title was dropped by former publisher Activision early last year, before being picked up by Square Enix in the summer.
True Crime: Hong Kong was playable from start to finish and "virtually complete" in terms of content before Activision canned it, United Front Games told CVG in a studio visit shortly before the announcement.
Since Activision owns the rights for the True Crime name, the publisher's been forced in to a name change.
"From the moment you pick up the controller and experience the blend of driving, close combat and shooting you know you're playing something fresh and a bit special," said Lee Singleton, GM of Square Enix London Studios.
"Sleeping Dogs has one of the best melee combat systems out there - it's super brutal with devastating takedown moves, and when added to UFG's proven heritage in driving games, a first class story and the vibrant backdrop of the Hong Kong underworld we get a fiery recipe with fun written all over it."
Stephen Van Der Mescht, executive producer at United Front Games, added: "Working on Sleeping Dogs has been such a huge passion for the team at United Front Games and we're really pleased to be working with Square Enix London Studios.
"The extensive experience both our studios have in creating compelling openworld gameplay and rich and rewarding combat makes for a perfect partnership. Working together we can make sure that Sleeping Dogs is the most intense and immersive experience it can be."
CVG was one of the last publications in the world to see the game before its 'death' under Activision. Read our True Crime: Hong Kong impressions for an idea of how it was shaping up.
Comments
13 comments so far...
svd_grasshopper on 8 Feb '12 said:
two for the price of one. great, CVG.
now it's OFFICIAL.
Tamoor on 8 Feb '12 said:
The first story was unconfirmed, hence the use of 'report', in the headline.
This is an official release from Square Enix.
We thought we'd post up another story along with the new live action trailer and screens, seemed like the appropriate thing to do.
Godlike Ape on 8 Feb '12 said:
Excellent news! I was gutted when it was cancelled by Activision.
August is so far away!
Godlike Ape on 8 Feb '12 said:
Yeah, curse you, CVG. Providing all this content for free.
Kintypoo121 on 8 Feb '12 said:
Looks awesome and the extra polish that is going to be added will make this game shine, I think and hope
svd_grasshopper on 8 Feb '12 said:
yeah like they going are out on a limb here, serving us this 'content'... and their livelihoods do not depend on it.
they depend on cynical comments these days to get their numbers up, since the quality has went downhill.
almost like they are purging them...
and who said august?! and why does it take so long if the game was basically done.
ensabahnur on 8 Feb '12 said:
Thats good, its always nice to see any Activision cast offs getting a chance elsewhere. I just hope that these games do really well and show Activision that they were wrong to discard them.
dandare69 on 8 Feb '12 said:
well they have to change the title screen, loading screens and er....yeh actually why does it take so long??
They picked it up last summer so thats an extra years worth of pollish? hmmm...
...methinks maybe it wasn't quite up to scratch which may have been part of the reason activision dropped it, whereas Square Enix have allowed them the time to they needed to make it as good as it promises to be.
kmcroc on 8 Feb '12 said:
The hell with the game make a movie out of it ,cause that s**t was Fk great.
gmcb007 on 8 Feb '12 said:
That trailer reminded me of the real time intro for GTA 2. I'm going to keep a keen eye on this game now. I always felt that it would be a very average game when activision was backing it due to their build quick policy.
1Nightmare1 on 8 Feb '12 said:
Great, now let's see this in actual game.
JOEuk91 on 8 Feb '12 said:
If this turns out terrible then Square Enix probably should have let Sleeping Dogs lie
No?
I'll get my coat
sepewrath on 8 Feb '12 said:
Kotick is only interested in the sure thing and things that can be turned into franchises, preferably annual franchises. True Crime isn't much of a franchise and in the crowded shooter market, it would be a struggle to make it a huge success. Activision likely simply didn't want to be bothered with something that they will have to work for. Why bother with that when you got Call of Duty a billion dollars in the bank even before you announce it.