Remember True Crime: Hong Kong? Yeah, the one that Activison cancelled last year? Well, Square Enix now owns the rights to that franchise. The game is still under development and United Front Games’ haven’t confirmed the release date or the platforms yet.
Understandably Square-Enix was very excited over this acquisition,“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.
The IP does not belong to Square Enix but they have the rights to developing the game, and are free to change the title, which is Square Enix Branding department’s first priority. Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, was quite pleased with this development as well, “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.”
The reason given for True Crime: Hong Kong’s cancellation by Hirshberg was, “To be blunt, it just wasn’t going to be good enough.” It’s too early to say how the game will turn out under Square Enix, but considering the amount of IP’s they now have after the Eidos acquisition, it is quite an impressive feat.
