After Activision's poor performing True Crime: New York City, it prompted the company to cancel a third installment of the series already in the works. As True Crime 3 regained some steam over at Activision (which was now under the development of United Front Games), the news of delays started to spread. Finally, in 2011, Activision officially cancelled True Crime 3 around the same time they cancelled their Guitar Hero line. Even though United Front Games claimed the game was essentially complete, Activision stood by their decision to not finish production or push a release.

Enter Square-Enix. The company picked up the publishing rights to True Crime 3 (officially called True Crime: Hong Kong by then) the same year it was cancelled. Square-Enix London, claiming that they loved the product they saw, was excited to purchase and release this long lingering and nearly complete game. Dropping the True Crime marquee from the title, as they had not achieved the rights to the name, it was finally known in 2012 that Square-Enix had acquired True Crime: Hong Kong / True Crime 3 and would be releasing it as Sleeping Dogs.

Sleeping Dogs will be an open-world, crime-action thriller which puts players in the role of a police officer, Detective Wei Shen. Going undercover to attempt to take down criminals and Triads in Hong Kong, Wei Shen will end up face-to-face with hardcore action and balancing his morality between a world of crime and being a cop. 

United Front Games has been talking big about Sleeping Dogs, always excited to mention their long standing passion, excitement, and dedication to this project that has been in their hands for a few years now. UFG claims that the melee system will be well designed, the driving segments (utilizing their past experience with ModNation racers) will be spot-on, and the story will be filled with intrigue and a good level of depth in both plot and characters. Via interviews, lead producer Jeff O'Connell has talked of his passion regarding the writing and time put into the story and characters more than anything else – so one thing we can expect from Sleeping Dogs is that it should have a killer plot.

The trailer shows us a very stylized fight scene against the amazing backdrop of Hong Kong. This proves the direction the game will go: part John Woo Asian action cinema, part Zach Snyder, part 1980s cop movies. UFG has pulled from a rich tapestry of homages and styles to create Sleeping Dogs. Other clips show neon-colored nightclubs and sprawling city streets, along with plenty of martial arts, action, and drama. 

Sleeping Dogs is aimed to be released in the second half of 2012.

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