14 DAY TRIAL // Video game publisher Square Enix has announced that it now owns the rights to publish True Crime: Hong Kong, the video game developed by United Front Games that was earlier in the year canceled by original publisher Activision Blizzard.
The Vancouver-based developer is still working on the game and it's not clear when Square Enix might aim to launch it, though presumably the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and the PC will remain the platforms on which the game will be available.
Square Enix has not picked up the rights for the True Crime name from Activision, which means that the project will have to be renamed before launch and it's not clear how much of the concepts of the game will also have to be reworked in order to eliminate all marks of the True Crime intellectual property.
Development on the new game will be coordinated by the London Studios of publisher Square Enix, which has also worked on Just Cause 2 with Avalanche Studios and on Batman: Arkham Asylum with Rocksteady.
Lee Singleton, who is the general manager, has talked to Gamasutra about True Crime and said, “It's one of those games where you don't want to put the controller down; it's what we call 'sticky'”, and added the game has an “incredible new game engine, rich new story with deep and complex characters, and gameplay features which have simply never been seen at this level in an open world game.”
The executive has also expressed a lot of confidence in the team at United Front Games, saying that there's enough talent there to deliver a very good experience.
When True Crime: Hong Kong was canceled by Activision the company said that the game was just not good enough to be released, but a statement from the publisher expressed delight that gamers will be able to enjoy the game at some point.