One man's trash is another man's treasure. So goes the story of True Crime: Hong Kong which has been snatched from development limbo at Activisions, to the sweet, life-instilling hands of Square Enix.

Square Enix London Studios general manager Lee Singleton spoke to Gamastra about the deal today stating, "When we first saw and got our hands on the game we fell in love with it...It's one of those games where you don't want to put the controller down; it's what we call 'sticky'."

At the moment, the game is being developed by Vancouver-based United Front and managed by Square Enix London Studios which had a hand in creating both Batman: Arkham Asylum  and Just Cause 2.

"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."

Even though the game was said to be cancelled back in February, development of the title was never completely stopped.  Instead, it went into slow-burn mode as the possibility of another publisher coming forward was still a possibility.

"During this time, the game has continued to be developed by a core team on a slower burn, but now that we've signed, we're ready to turn up the heat and get the team upto capacity," he says.

"We see this as a fantastic opportunity to create a new and unique franchise which gamers will come to know and love for years to come," adds Singleton.

Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, has also weighed in on the deal and has given the continued development an Activision Blessing. "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.

Neither can we Eric, neither can we.

[Source: Gamasutra]

Comments

  • Avatar
    ArcHeRHooD
    13 years, 4 months ago

    Holy shit, I cannot wait for this game...

  • Avatar
    s1yfox
    13 years, 4 months ago

    "I'm so excited I wish I could wet my pants!" -Bender

  • Avatar
    Skrams
    13 years, 4 months ago

    You know when I hear True Crime Hong Kong I kind of think of the Kane and Lynch 2 team. Just kinda makes sense. But now I hear its being made by actually good people I kinda want to see what it is.

  • Avatar
    Auto
    13 years, 4 months ago

    FUCK YES!!! I was so sad to hear Activision cancelled it, now I hear this. I'm PUMPED.

  • Avatar
    Clidefrog123
    13 years, 4 months ago

    I loved the other ones and hopefully this one will live up to the expectations set by its predecessor

  • Avatar
    RedAma131
    13 years, 4 months ago

    I didn't like New York compared to Streets of LA, but this one looks promising. Looking forward to seeing how great this will turn out.

  • Avatar
    Comradebearjew
    13 years, 4 months ago

    Oh man, this game is going to be rad.

  • Avatar
    DasFool
    13 years, 4 months ago

    Nice, I loved what I played of Streets of LA. Glad to see this franchise is being revived.

  • Avatar
    Flynn
    13 years, 4 months ago

    very very good news

  • Avatar
    xzr
    13 years, 4 months ago

    Was a fan of TC:Streets of LA, which i thought had the best combat in any openworld shooter structure to day by far, but what worries me is still this dev. United Front games is an entirely different studio than what made LA and NY. Since it's the same dev as the canceled iteration just moved on to square enix, if you look on the previous trailers, they have zero of what I think made true crime great. Mainly, Upgrades and Skill systems, fuckin precision shotting a car's gas tank while driving backwards, with your laser sighted scope modded desert eagle, 180 drift to face forward and drive your lambo into the sunset, then suplex the sunset, that was the game i remember. Presentation is way better though.

  • Avatar
    FPDragoon
    13 years, 4 months ago

    That better be Nick Kang in those pictures we see. :o

  • Avatar
    mclovin146
    13 years, 4 months ago

    Thank God! i was so pissed when i found out that Activision pulled the plug on this game. I finally have hope again for this game.

  • Avatar
    Skittles0520
    13 years, 4 months ago

    I absolutely liked the first True Crime game. I can't wait to try this as well.

  • Avatar
    DamonD
    13 years, 4 months ago

    I was disappointed when the game originally fell through, I did have fun with the two previous True Crime games. They were always GTA's little brother, and I think the rise of the Saints Row series put them in further shadow, but I'm glad that all the hard work put in by the developers has not been wasted.

    Fingers crossed this'll be worth the wait (and the money).

  • Avatar
    robotmolester
    13 years, 4 months ago

    aww man this is awesome!

  • Avatar
    Relay
    13 years, 4 months ago

    Never played a true crime game, so I'll keep an eye out.

  • Avatar
    Swertg
    13 years, 4 months ago

    This is wonderful news for a fellow fan of the True Crime franchise; it has been a while since the last installment and I was mightily disappointed with the previous cancellation.
    Since the team has still been gradually working on it, here's to hoping that the game has the care and attention put into it for final polish.

  • Avatar
    Dellago
    13 years, 3 months ago

    I remember being interested in the earlier footage I saw of this. Didnt even know it got cancelled...but it's still nice to know it got revived.