Sleeping Dogs began as Black Lotus, not a True Crime game

If you're wondering how dropping off the True Crime label changed Sleeping Dogs, the answer is "not at all" - because the game was conceptualised outside the franchise.

"One misconception is we were True Crime from the get-go," United Front Games' Dan Sochan told Joystiq.

"We were a new [intellectual property] from the get-go. Our own story, own characters and gameplay features. After working on it for a couple years, Activision decided it wanted to reboot the True Crime franchise."

While the game was signed with Activision, United Front stuck the True Crime name, but apart from taking it off again after being dropped, it hasn't made any other changes.

"In terms of of our initial vision for the game nothing has changed. From new IP 'Black Lotus,' to True Crime to Sleeping Dogs, that has always remained intact," Sochan said.

Sleeping Dogs will be published by Square Enix - which seems pretty pleased about it - in August, for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.