Square Enix buys rights to True Crime: Hong Kong

Square Enix has said it has bought the rights to True Crime: Hong Kong from Activision.

Square Enix London studio Lee Singleton made the admission in an interview with Gamasutra. However, the publisher has not picked up the rights to the IP, and that the title will be rebranded to reflect otherwise.

"It's too early to say what the name will be," said Singleton, adding that removing the True Crime name would be "pretty straightforward."

United Front Games are still working on the title, as it was when Activision was publishing the game before its cancelation. Singleton wouldn't be drawn on release timings or formats, though. It was originally due to release this year for PS3, 360 and PC.

He admitted that it was a "done deal" between Square and United Front after it had seen the potential with the game from the developer.

"When we met the team at United Front Games, it was a done deal in our eyes -- we instantly recognized the huge potential in the game and the team. UFG is an incredibly talented team, who have individually worked on some of the biggest games in our industry, and this talent shines through from the moment you walk in the door."

True Crime: Hong Kong was announced back in December 2008 at the Spike Video Game Awards, and was shown various times to media, but was canned by Activision in February because it would not "be at the top" of the open-world genre, according to comments made by Activision COO Eric Hirshberg in June.