Sleeping Dogs developer's new game is, sadly, not Sleeping Dogs 2
UPDATE: Team brawler Smash & Grab properly announced via trailer.
UPDATE 4.30pm: And, a little sooner than expected, Smash & Grab has now been fully unveiled. A three-versus-three team battler for PC, the game will debut via Early Access in September.
Each team will compete to nab $50k in goods in 15-minute matches. Loot can be acquired from raiding high-end stores or from taking out the other team using outlandish weapons such as "chain-saw-shovels".
Two multiplayer modes, two maps and an offline practice mode will be included in the game's Early Access package. Here's the trailer:
ORIGINAL STORY 3.30pm: The next project from the developer behind Sleeping Dogs is, unfortunately, not a Sleeping Dogs sequel.
Instead, the Vancouver-based United Front Games is developing Smash & Grab, which looks to be a faction-based multiplayer battler.
The game's logo and artwork have popped up online (thanks, Wario64). The actual full reveal of the game is expected tomorrow.
Until then, we can but gaze at the character art and guess at what we'll get. We see teams of futuristic urban youngsters armed with guns and melee weapons.
The art style is reminiscent of things like Splash Damage's Dirty Bomb, with a bit of Battlecry and a hint of APB.
What, then, of Sleeping Dogs 2? Since UFG's enjoyable Hong Kong open world first released in 2012 and got us all hunkering for a pork bun, it has always seemed on the horizon. Sleeping Dogs was re-released for PS4 and Xbox One to raise interest in a follow-up, while UFG also worked on a multiplayer spin-off, Triad Wars.
But Sleeping Dogs is now four years ago, and Triad Wars was cancelled before ever receiving a full release. A full sleepy canine sequel now seems further away than ever.