Joystiq

Square Enix snags rights to True Crime: Hong Kong from Activision

Christopher Grant — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:00:00 EST

"The finished product was not going to be at the top of that genre," Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg told Joystiq following the sudden cancellation of the publisher's True Crime: Hong Kong reboot in February. That blunt assessment hasn't stopped Square Enix from picking up the rights to the United Front Games-developed title from Activision and placing it under the management of Square Enix London Studios and its general manager, Lee Singleton.

"When we first saw and got our hands on the game we fell in love with it," Singleton tells Gamasutra, further describing the game as a "great big bucket of fun." Square Enix London Studios knows a thing or two about "fun." The organization is tasked to provide a "fresh approach to third party game development" and, in that pursuit, it's managed games like Rocksteady Studios' Batman: Arkham Asylum and Avalanche Studios' open-world Just Cause 2.

Since Square Enix didn't purchase the (somewhat worthless) True Crime IP, it appears it will be renaming the game; the "branding team is already working on concepts," Gama reports. And while the-game-formerly-known-as-True-Crime-Hong-Kong was destined for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC this November, Square's not ready to even address those specifics. After the game's cancellation, the development team had to "scale back" but now that Square Enix has picked up the title, "we're ready to turn up the heat and get the team up to capacity," Singleton says.

For his part, Activision's Hirshberg tells Gama, "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." And while most gamers will no doubt look forward to the title's release, if only to play "Would I Have Cancelled It," Singleton reminds us that the game still needs work. "We are committed to working with the team at United Front Games and giving them the time needed to realize the full potential of the game's standout features and create a truly unique open world adventure." Now we wait to see if Square's able to release something "at the top of that genre."

Square Enix snags rights to True Crime: Hong Kong from Activision originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg on True Crime, Bizarre Creations, the 'Hero' franchise, and transparency

Christopher Grant — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 13:43:00 EST

When Eric Hirshberg stepped into the role of CEO of Activision Publishing last July, the company had just begun an ugly, public battle with the founders of Infinity Ward, having fired the creators of the company's Call of Duty cash cow just four months prior. Frequently villainized in the press, the appointment of Hirshberg seemed to indicate that Activision was eager to turn its brand identity around. Hirshberg cut his teeth as CEO and chief creative officer of marketing firm Deutsch LA making ad campaigns for brands like PlayStation -- you may not recognize that name, but if you've seen a Kevin Butler commercial, you know his work. And as Activision Publishing narrows its focus and energies into a few key brands, notably the aforementioned Call of Duty, tasking a marketing man with running a game publisher starts to make a lot of sense.

Last month I had the opportunity to speak with Hirshberg in his office at Activision headquarters in Santa Monica. It was less than a week after a massive leak upended the company's carefully prepared marketing plan for the latest in the blockbuster Modern Warfare series and, for Hirshberg, it was a chance to connect with that audience. "We woke up with a marketing crisis," Hirshberg told me, "and wanted to go to bed with a marketing win." Throughout our conversation, Hirshberg mentioned the need to be transparent with consumers, so I challenged him to explain some of the company's more controversial decisions since he's been CEO: the cancellation of True Crime; the closure of Bizarre Studios; and the very public retreat from the Guitar Hero and DJ Hero games.

Continue reading Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg on True Crime, Bizarre Creations, the 'Hero' franchise, and transparency

Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg on True Crime, Bizarre Creations, the 'Hero' franchise, and transparency originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 13:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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United Front Games hit with layoffs in wake of True Crime cancellation

Ben Gilbert — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST

We've heard rumblings over the last week about layoffs at True Crime: Hong Kong developer United Front Games, but last night a representative confirmed to us that "a number of roles have been made redundant" at the studio, specifically as a result of the cancellation of True Crime. The "recent activity" page for UFG on LinkedIn, a business networking site, shows at least 25 people who were affected.

Despite the layoffs, we were also told that, "UFG is still very much open for business and we will continue to ship top games." Additionally, the studio's website has an update message on its front page this morning, lamenting the cancellation of True Crime but admitting, "we understand why." We wish everyone affected at the Vancouver-based studio the best in the coming months. The full statement from United Front Games is available after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading United Front Games hit with layoffs in wake of True Crime cancellation

United Front Games hit with layoffs in wake of True Crime cancellation originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Activision axing Guitar Hero and True Crime; Freestyle Games reportedly hit with layoffs [update]

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 16:20:00 EST

Despite a recent cover story in EGM, United Front's True Crime: Hong Kong won't make it to retail. Activision's latest earnings report confirms the game's cancellation, as well as the end of the Guitar Hero franchise.

"Due to continued declines in the music genre, the company will disband Activision Publishing's Guitar Hero business unit and discontinue development on its Guitar Hero game for 2011," Activision said in its financial statement. The statement goes on to confirm the cancellation of True Crime. "The company also will stop development on True Crime: Hong Kong. These decisions are based on the desire to focus on the greatest opportunities that the company currently has to create the world's best interactive entertainment experiences."

Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg went into a bit more detail on today's investor call:

"Despite a remarkable 92 rating on DJ Hero 2, a widely well-regarded Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, as well as a 90-plus rated release from our most direct competitor [Rock Band 3], demand for peripheral-based music games declined at a dramatic pace. Given the considerable licensing and manufacturing costs associated with this genre, we simply cannot make these games profitably based on current economics and demand. Instead, what we'll do is focus our time and energies on marketing and supporting our strong catalog of titles and downloadable content, especially to new consumers as the installed base for hardware continues to grow."

Hirshberg continued, saying that True Crime's development, "was't going to lead to a title at or near the top of the competitive open-world genre." To put things more directly, Hirshberg added, "To be blunt, it just wasn't going to be good enough."

If that weren't enough bad news, Eurogamer also reports that DJ Hero developer Freestyle Games has suffered "severe layoffs," though it's unclear whether the rhythm series has been affected by the alleged redundancies. We'll update this post as we learn more.

[Update: An earlier version of this post was based solely on Eurogamer's report, which has since been partially confirmed by Activision.]

[Update 2: United Front Games has commented on the cancellation of True Crime]

Continue reading Activision axing Guitar Hero and True Crime; Freestyle Games reportedly hit with layoffs [update]

Activision axing Guitar Hero and True Crime; Freestyle Games reportedly hit with layoffs [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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True Crime: Hong Kong delayed until 2011

Griffin McElroy — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Activision's recently released Q2 2011 investor's report contains a bit of bad news for United Front Games' upcoming reboot of the True Crime franchise -- or good news, depending on how you look at it. The game -- now referred to as True Crime: Hong Kong -- has had its somewhat ambiguous fall 2010 release window pushed to an even more ambiguous 2011 launch, which Activision hopes will "give the development team more time to deliver the high-quality entertainment experience they envision for the game."

We normally can't help but scoff when publishers give this excuse when pushing back the release of one of their titles, but in this case, we'll let it slide. We're not sure if you've heard, but Hong Kong is ... um, kind of big.

True Crime: Hong Kong delayed until 2011 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Impressions: True Crime

Ludwig Kietzmann — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:01:00 EST

click to enlarge

After a five-year hiatus, free-roaming felony franchise True Crime is set to return (sans subtitle) in Fall 2010. United Front, which is also working on the upcoming ModNation Racers and houses veterans from games such as Bully, Prototype and Scarface, is developing the new entry for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Lead producer Jeff O'Connell describes it as a "more serious" reboot -- and a story that's more closely modeled after cop films. "It's an opportunity to be an innately good guy," he said of the undercover, under-pressure role you'll assume. "That's good drama."

Inspired by films like "The Departed" (see: "Infernal Affairs"), True Crime follows undercover lawman Wei Shen as he infiltrates the triad, slow-mo kicks enemies in the chin, and completes objectives across the game's new city playground. "Is it an accurate representation of Hong Kong?" O'Connell asked. "It's not." Despite referencing over 27,000 photographs, the city has been "tuned for gameplay," eschewing a realistic, street-for-street recreation in favor of a more cinematic and moody Hong Kong.

Gallery: True Crime: Hong Kong

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Impressions: True Crime originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Activision reports $113m in profits for 2009; 2010 game plan is predictable

James Ransom-Wiley — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:05:00 EST

Today Activision Blizzard reported the financial results of its December quarter and the entire 2009 calendar year. For the year, Activision recorded a net income of $113 million, a modest turnaround from the $107 million in net losses for the company in 2008. Led by sales of Modern Warfare 2, all signs -- at least, this one -- pointed to an outstanding Q4 for the publisher. However, figures released today indicate that Activision actually posted a $286 million net loss during the period.

"Despite these challenging times, in 2010 we remain focused on expanding operating margins by growing our high-margin digital/online revenues, directing our resources to the largest and most profitable opportunities and realizing operational efficiencies globally," CEO Bobby Kotick said. "In calendar year 2010, we expect our net earnings and operating margin growth will be driven by our product slate that includes Blizzard Entertainment's Starcraft II and the World of Warcraft expansion pack, Cataclysm, as well as a diversified lineup based on Activision Publishing's best-selling franchises including Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk, together with other well-known titles such as True Crime, Spider-Man and Bakugan."

While few details were give about Activision's pending slate of sequels, spinoffs and possible reboots, Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing, did share a few words about the next True Crime game. "We'll be releasing a game in the $4 billion action genre, based on our True Crime franchise," Griffith said. "The game blends intense Hollywood-style driving with martial arts combat and shootouts to deliver an Asian cinema-inspired action thriller. This is a big open-world action game that looks especially strong." Griffith also confirmed that a new 007 game is still in the works for 2010.

Additionally, Activision noted that two new IPs are in development for its 2010 lineup and assured that additional DLC will continue to be released for Guitar Hero 5 (and presumably Band Hero), as well as for DJ Hero. The next installments in both music game franchises, Guitar Hero and DJ Hero, are due in "the back half of the year," according Griffith. Activision also announced that it has ceased developing new Guitar Hero games for the PlayStation 2 platform. Aw, shucks.

Activision reports $113m in profits for 2009; 2010 game plan is predictable originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spike VGA 2009 Wrap-up: The awards, the trailers, the premieres

Griffin McElroy — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST

As you can probably tell by looking at our front page, last night's Spike Video Game Awards show was a pretty prolific source of gaming news. From the big reveals of games like Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2, to new trailers for Crackdown 2 and Halo: Reach, to ... well, the actual awards, it was a pretty busy night for all parties involved.

We've collected all the stories, trailers, and winners of each award in this post to prevent you from hunting through our archives -- or our hateful, hateful liveblog -- to find what you're looking for. You'll find them all listed after the jump!

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Spike VGA 2009 Wrap-up: The awards, the trailers, the premieres originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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True Crime in Hong Kong revealed at Spike VGA

Griffin McElroy — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:19:00 EST

The second world premiere of the VGAs was the full version of the teaser we saw a couple weeks ago -- you know, the one we initially presumed was for another installment in the True Crime series? Yeah, well, it was totally for another installment in the True Crime series, which is being developed by ModNation Racers creators United Front. Guess there's no more mystery as to what Activision's upcoming Hong Kong-set action title is, huh?

It'll be a little while before we can get the high definition version of the trailer up, but until then, check out a screengrabbed version of the trailer after the jump, and feel confident in the fact that we're very good guessers.

Update: We've added a hi-res version of the trailer above.

True Crime in Hong Kong revealed at Spike VGA originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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