Square Enix to revive True Crime: Hong Kong

Square Enix gets the rights to TC: Hong Kong from Activision

Posted on Aug 1, 2011 - 5:23pm EST

Square Enix has picked up the rights to United Front Games' True Crime: Hong Kong, which was cancelled earlier this year by original publisher Activision, reports Gamasutra.

The game is still under development at Vancouver-based United Front; the project is being managed through Square Enix London Studios, which also worked with Rocksteady Studios on Batman: Arkham Asylum and Avalanche Studios on Just Cause 2.

"When we first saw and got our hands on the game we fell in love with it," said Square Enix London Studios general manager Lee Singleton.

To be clear, Square Enix has not picked up the True Crime IP. Says Singleton, "It's too early to say what the name will be." Square Enix branding team is already working on concepts.

"When we met the team at United Front Games," says Singleton, "it was a done deal in our eyes - we instantly recognized the huge potential in the game and the team. UFG is an incredibly talented team, who have individually worked on some of the biggest games in our industry, and this talent shines through from the moment you walk in the door."

Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, said in a statement, "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."

While development on the game did "scale back" in the immediate aftermath of the cancellation by Activision, Singleton said that all assessment of the game by Square Enix is already complete and the developer has been actively recruiting the talent that worked on the game since talks with the new publisher began.