14 DAY TRIAL // Sleeping Dogs developer United Front Games, whose most recent work was Tomb Raider Definite Edition, is currently working on a free-to-play game that will be launched sometime in 2015.
The announcement came from online free-to-play game publisher Nexon America, traditionally a PC-oriented company, so the untitled game is likely to also be PC-only, but that is not yet certain, as there is no official word on it yet.
Sleeping Dogs was a sleeper hit, a very ambitious project that offered an open world for players to explore and a pretty interesting universe, and impressed both fans as well as critics. The entire thing taking place in Hong Kong, an entirely new, exciting and exotic setting, was also part of the game's draw, as was the focus on martial arts, and it's certainly going to be interesting to see what United Front has cooked up now.
"Nexon brings an unparalleled wealth of knowledge of the growing free-to-play market. We are thrilled to partner with a publisher who has an excellent track record of building direct and meaningful relationships with players," United Front Games CEO Stephen van der Mescht said in a statement.
United Front Games was founded back in 2007, including former members of Rockstar Games, Electronic Arts and Radical Entertainment, and the company worked on various Sony games such as ModNation Racers and LittleBigPlanet Karting.
"We are committed to bringing a new line-up of AAA-quality free-to-play games to the Western market, and our partnership with United Front Games is another step toward achieving this goal. United Front Games' team has a great track record of developing successful titles, and we're looking forward to showing the world what our combined strengths can create in 2015," Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney commented on the deal between the two companies.
Nexon has its fingers in many pots, being best known for publishing the wildly popular free-to-play massively multiplayer online game MapleStory, but also working as publisher for former Call of Duty developer Robert Bowling's Human Element, as well as many others, most notably eastern-developed MMOs.
In addition to publishing, Nexon also owns a minority stake in SecretNew Co, former Firaxis veteran Brian Reynolds' studio, and has also signed the deal to publish its first game.
Now it looks like former Sleeping Dogs dev United Front Games has also been included in the family. Unfortunately, neither the video game development studio nor the publisher offered any palpable information regarding the upcoming game, so we have no choice but to wait until the official announcement drops.
Developer United Front Games is also working with Square Enix on a sequel of sorts to Sleeping Dogs, set in the same universe, called Triad Wars.