True Crime: Hong Kong

True Crime: Hong Kong
NTSC region cover art
Developer(s)	United Front Games Square Enix London Studios (overseen)
Publisher(s)	Square Enix, Activision (former publisher)
Composer(s)	Brian Tyler
Series	True Crime
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3 Xbox 360
Genre(s)	Third-person action, Sandbox
Mode(s)	Single-player

True Crime: Hong Kong is a video game in development by United Front Games and is to be published by Square Enix. It was going to be the third installment and a reboot of the True Crime series, and it would not be developed by Luxoflux, largely due to the studio being closed in February 2010. Square Enix picked up the publishing rights to the game after Activision originally cancelled it. The game remains in production at United Front Games, but the project's now being overseen by Square Enix London Studios, but the game will most likely be renamed as Square Enix did not purchase the True Crime name rights.

The game will take place in Hong Kong and focuses on an undercover operation to infiltrate the Triads. The game is set to be released for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms.

Plot

True Crime: Hong Kong, like its predecessors, focuses on a police officer attempting to bring down criminal factions. The game takes place in Hong Kong with players assuming control of Detective Wei Shen, an officer of the Triad Bureau of Hong Kong Police. Wei has been assigned to go undercover and infiltrate the Triad organization called Sun On Yee. The plot focus on the moral struggle of Wei to stay true to his mission and stop the Triads while maintaining his cover and being as much like the criminals as possible, similar to the central conflict of Splinter Cell: Double Agent.

Development

True Crime: New York City was met with mixed reviews and did not meet sales expectations. Although a True Crime 3 was said to be in production, these low sales numbers for New York City made Activision cancel a third game and focus on other titles. No mention of another True Crime game was made for several years. Then, on December 12, 2009, Activision debuted the announcement trailer for the series third game, simply titled True Crime, at the Spike Video Game Awards 2009. The trailer confirmed that Activision would be publishing and that a new developer, United Front Games, would be developing in place of traditional True Crime developer Luxoflux. The game was set to be released for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 by Activision.

On August 6, 2010, it was announced that the game would be delayed until 2011 to give more development time. According to Activision CEO, Eric Hirshberg, who’s assured that the August delay of True Crime: Hong Kong had greatly "paid off." "The additional development time invested in this game has really paid off, for gameplay mechanic the make the fighting and shooting as sophisticated as the driving, which is something that’s very hard to achieve in the open-world genre," said Hirshberg.

On February 9, 2011, Activision decided to cancel the game, in order to focus on online games that have a higher margin. Activision stated that True Crime had ceased production along with their Guitar Hero franchise quoting: "These decisions are based on the desire to focus on the greatest opportunities that the company currently has to create the world's best interactive entertainment experiences." The game was declared cancelled for being "just not good enough" to compete in the open world genre. Activision didn't expect True Crime to generate enough profit and stopped development. Even with its most optimistic projections, said the firm, it couldn't see True Crime reaching the top of the open-world genre. United Front Games announced their disappointment on their website: "We are sorry we did not get a chance to complete this project with Activision, but we understand why. We are both committed to doing quality games and nothing less. Maybe we will have a chance to work together in the future, but in the meantime we are setting our creative sights on a different horizon." The game's executive producer Stephen Van Der Mescht told Computer and Video Games that True Crime: Hong Kong was playable from start to finish and "virtually complete" in terms of content before Activision canned it. Despite Activision's low expectations, Van Der Mescht said the game "stood apart" from the competition.

Rights acquired by Square Enix

"Our team has worked very hard to find a solution where everybody wins. Square Enix gets the benefit of the tremendous investment we've made in the game thus far. UFG gets to stay together and complete their vision. And gamers get to play a great game. We couldn't be more thrilled."

—Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg about the publishing rights

On August 2, 2011, Square Enix picked up the publishing rights to the game. Square Enix will still be working with United Front Games on True Crime, but the game will be renamed as Square Enix did not pick up the True Crime IP. "When we first saw and got our hands on the game we fell in love with it," Square Enix London Studios general manager Lee Singleton told Gamasutra. "It's one of those games where you don't want to put the controller down; it's what we call 'sticky'," Singleton added. "When we met the team at United Front Games, it was a done deal in our eyes - we instantly recognised the huge potential in the game and the team." United Front Games' President Stefan Wessels stated he is excited and "really pleased to be working with Square Enix London Studios and their excitement on the game means a great deal to us".

External links

• Official website