Then-CEO of Activision Publishing Eric Hirshberg said at the time (via Eurogamer):
It was being developed by the now-defunct United Front Games but was canceled in February 2011. However, given the concept bore superficial similarities to a Grand Theft Auto-style, open-world crime title, it was reworked to fit into the True Crime series, according to Gamasutra, with a male lead.Įven after this conceptual rework, True Crime: Hong Kong never became a finished product. The reason Black Lotus was passed over has never been officially confirmed, but the aforementioned Gamasutra investigation alleged the original concept was deemed unworkable by Activision because it had a female lead character (Activision later denied this, via Eurogamer) inspired by Lucy Liu. How Sleeping Dogs Went From Black Lotus At Activision To Square Enix Regardless, this concept was pitched to Activision as an open-world action title, similar in style to famous Hong Kong action films. What would eventually become Sleeping Dogs started as a game concept called " Black Lotus." Who pitched the concept is not entirely clear a 2010 Gamasutra report suggests it was Treyarch, the studio now best known for Call of Duty, but a 2012 IGN interview with Sleeping Dogs developer United Front Games suggests it originally came from that studio instead. Related: Donnie Yen To Star In Sleeping Dogs Movie
Rather than being planned for True Crime from the start, Sleeping Dogs was simply retrofitted to the franchise before shifting to another publisher entirely. The franchise had encompassed two games, True Crime: Streets of LA and True Crime: New York City, and was a rather blatant GTA clone, though it featured a central gimmick of satellite image-based city recreations. Sleeping Dogs was, at one point, intended to be the next entry in the True Crime series. The open-world action title began its development at Activision, but it was neither Sleeping Dogs nor True Crime: Hong Kong at the time. Popular wisdom says Square Enix's Grand Theft Auto-like Sleeping Dogs started life as an entry in Activision’s True Crime series, but that’s not exactly true.
The full details of the Activision Blizzard lawsuit (content warning: rape, suicide, abuse, harassment) are being updated as new information becomes available. Activision Blizzard has denied the allegations. Editor’s Note: A lawsuit has been filed against Activision Blizzard by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which alleges the company has engaged in abuse, discrimination, and retaliation against its female employees.
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