It wasn’t too long ago that it was known as True Crime: Hong Kong, but today the action game in development at Vancouver’s United Front Games (UFG) was announced as Sleeping Dogs. And it’s slated for release sometime between July and December 2012.

The game was originally developed for Activision as a reboot of the True Crime franchise but UFG was left reeling when the publisher cancelled the game shortly before it was to be released.

Within a few months, though, the enterprising talents at UFG had convinced Square Enix to step in to publish the game.

At the same time, the studio released a version of its ModNation Racers for Sony’s PSP handheld, and was in development of ModNation Racers: Road Trip, designed for the PS Vita and being released this month.

While the title of the UFG’s third-person action game changed from True Crime to Sleeping Dogs, it is still set in the world of Hong Kong organized crime.

And its core mechanics – described by Lee Singleton in a news release as having “one of the best melee combat systems out there; it’s super brutal with devastating take-down moves” – likely haven’t changed much either.

Singleton, the general manager of Square Enix London Studios, has been helping with the final stages of development. He added that “when added to UFG’s proven heritage in driving games, a first class story, and the vibrant backdrop of the Hong Kong underworld we get a fiery recipe with fun written all over it.”

For gamers who’ve been waiting since December 2009 to see what the developers at UFG would do with an action game, it’s been a long time coming.

Cross-posted at the Georgia Straight