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[Corpekata]

Gang, don't forget Disney's hand in this. United Front Games was also responsible for Disney's Marvel Battleground Playset and we all know what happened to Disney Infinity. Willing to bet this was what did the company in.

I'd say it's almost certainly Triad Wars that was to blame. Typically the companies that worked on things like Disney Infinity were mid level studios that were already struggling.

And they were working on that for a while.

 

[swarley64]

But Smash & Grab literally just came out in Early Access... WTF?

 

[Nategc20]

Like not even downsize?

Damn

 

[Maxey]

For Sleeping Dogs? Yes, they do.

Then maybe not greenlighting a proper sequel was denying them a bigger success and therefore more money.

Directly or indirectly, squeenix decided their fate.

 

[NightShift]

Goodbye Wei Shen.

Wish them luck, they were a talented studio.

 

[piratepwnsninja]

Damn.

 

[Prompto]

This sucks

 

[Tizoc]

Did Sleeping Dogs not "sell enough" for Square? Meanwhile at this point FFXV couldn't recoup costs no matter what, and they're gonna get a free pass presumably.

I did a quick search and on steamspy the og sleeping dogs has 1.5ish million owners
Sleeping dogs de has around 400k-ish owners
Combined the game likely Sold/shipped over 3 million copies colbined on all its platform sbut this is just a quickie estimate until someone more informed can chime in :x

 

[AngryPuppyEsq]

Is the PS4 port of Sleepy Dogs meant to be janky? I own it on 360 & PC already but probably wouldn't sit down to play it on either.

 

[chrisPjelly]

Damn. That's a huge shame, considering they were looking really promising with Sleeping Dogs and Mod Nation Racers. I really wanted 2 Dogs 2 Sleepy reaaaally bad . Hope everyone lands on their feet.

 

[jett]

That's a shame.

Sleepy Dawgz had its quirks but I enjoyed it. Would've liked a Schleepingdoges2.

 

[AudioEppa]

Fucking bullshit! Sleeping Dogs was in my top 5 best games of last gen. So pissed right now.


Rest In Pork

 

[Crayons]

Rest in pieces

Thanks for an amazing game.

 

[Randomizer]

Square-Enix could have easily funded Sleeping Dogs 2. What happened? They own the IP so it's cheaper to pawn it off on to one of their Edios studios?

 

[Vibranium]

Fuck. This sucks ass. A great Vancouver developer from my province and made an amazing game in Sleeping Dogs.

I will replay SD soon and pour one out for those guys and gals.

 

[Kid Heart]

I really enjoyed playing ModNation Racers on the PS3.

I hope you guys land on your feet.

 

[nakedeyes]

Gang, don't forget Disney's hand in this. United Front Games was also responsible for Disney's Marvel Battleground Playset and we all know what happened to Disney Infinity. Willing to bet this was what did the company in.

Nope. As someone who worked on all of infinity and worked closely with UFG on it. I can tell you this is not the case. They got paid well for working on Infinity. If anything, it kept them afloat after triad wars for longer than they would have otherwise.

 

[Ray Down]

Square-Enix could have easily funded Sleeping Dogs 2. What happened? They own the IP so it's cheaper to pawn it of to one of their Edios studios who?

It didn't sell to expectations, SE said as much.

No idea what they were, game sold like 1.75 million.

For example SE expected Tomb Raider to sell 8 million in it's first fincial year, it didn't though it eventually did. SE was expecting Hitman Absolution to reach 5 million it reached 3.6(no idea of it's current sales).

 

[Grassclipper]

Sad to hear. Sleeping Dogs was a great game and one of very few I bought almost every, if not all, pieces of dlc for. It really hit all the right notes for me and I would've bought a sequel in a heartbeat.

 

[Corpekata]

Square-Enix could have easily funded Sleeping Dogs 2. What happened? They own the IP so it's cheaper to pawn it of to one of their Edios studios who?

They aren't going to pawn it off to anyone. It's dead jim.

 

[Matt]

Gang, don't forget Disney's hand in this. United Front Games was also responsible for Disney's Marvel Battleground Playset and we all know what happened to Disney Infinity. Willing to bet this was what did the company in.

That's just a ridiculous statement. Disney is responsible for this because they paid UFG to do a job?

 

[soultron]

If anyone from UFG is reading this wants to move to Toronto for work, hit me on twitter @panecasio we have job openings.

 

[Ryuuga]

Is Smash and Grab owned by SE? If so, can they potentially buy it back?

 

[Infinite Justice]

Sure, but as I said, it was just a poor fit on PC. I could have understood it if they had have been making it as a mobile game, and maybe they'd have found a market for that idea of building your gang and attacking other gang headquarters. More recent mobile games are popular with similar concepts.

On PC though? It's a rough sell when the game idea just doesn't have much depth.

Might have been trying to leverage their PC fans at the time, Smash and Grab was apparently in Early Access

 

[Oh God Why]

And so the first part of Gaf > Internet > Gaf has begun.

http://www.pcgamer.com/united-front-games-reportedly-closed-smashgrab-no-longer-available/

https://www.playerattack.com/news/2016/10/18/91962/report-sleeping-dogs-developer-united-front-games-closed/
(I wanted to point out that this source did not even credit Bish or Gaf as the original source of United Front Games Studio's closure. Classy.)

https://www.destructoid.com/report-sleeping-dogs-developer-united-front-games-has-closed-393843.phtml

 

[t26]

I'd say it's almost certainly Triad Wars that was to blame. Typically the companies that worked on things like Disney Infinity were mid level studios that were already struggling.

And they were working on that for a while.

Ninja Theory and Sumo Digital also worked on Disney Infinity 3.0 and they are doing fine.

 

[Zafir]

It didn't sell to expectations, SE said as much.

No idea what they were, game sold like 1.75 million.

For example SE expected Tomb Raider to sell 8 million in it's first fincial year, it didn't though it eventually did. SE was expecting Hitman Absolution to reach 5 million it reached 3.6(no idea of it's current sales).

I think it's safe to say Square Enix has just really poor management. I mean the new Deus Ex cost a ridiculous amount to make considering how little it actually innovated on. Mean while they're chucking money at XV like it went out of fashion even though I just don't physically see how XV will ever recoup the costs.

Might have been trying to leverage their PC fans at the time, Smash and Grab was apparently in Early Access

From what I remember Triad Wars reused a whole lot of assets from Sleeping Dogs, so it was actually probably that. In that respect it makes me wonder what they spent all the money on, but maybe it's an issue stemming from what I mentioned above.

Smash + Grab seemed like it was unrelated to Square Enix though as it was self published. It was also a hell of a lot better, shame the damage had already been done.

 

[Shadowhaxor]

That's just a ridiculous statement. Disney is responsible for this because they paid UFG to do a job?

I was hinting into contracts and finances If said title isn't being sold, isn't actively being worked on because it was cancelled then there's no money coming in. It's hardly ridiculous unless you think people work for free.

Anywho, someone who mentioned they had ties to this stated they got paid enough to stay afloat.

 

[VibratingDonkey]

Arse.

 

[texhnolyze]

RIP.

It seems that their Sleeping Dogs Online was a mistake. A fatal one.

 

[sublimit]

Awful news.Modnation was my favourite kart game and i was hoping to see a new one from them coming on PS4.

Fun fact:a friend of mine bought a PS3 just for Modnation after trying the game at my house.To this day he (and his wife) played nothing else on the system.

 

[fargofallout]

I always wondered if Triad Wars was Square's idea or United Front's. it seemed like such a poor and ill-timed decision. I would assume it's better to try to build on brand recognition and make Sleepy Dawgs 2, but I'm no business man.

 

[DJIzana]

Gah... this one still hurts close to home... LITERALLY. They're one of very few local studios I like, here, in Vancouver. (Capcom's Burnaby branch and Next Level Games being the others).

Sleeping Dogs is also one of the very few games I still leave installed on my computer and go back to play. (The others being FFXIV, Ragnarok Online, PSO 2).

 

[Ray Down]

I think it's safe to say Square Enix has just really poor management. I mean the new Deus Ex cost a ridiculous amount to make considering how little it actually innovated on. Mean while they're chucking money at XV like it went out of fashion even though I just don't physically see how XV will ever recoup the costs.

A game budget isn't based on how a sequel innovates it's self.

Dues Ex was running on a new engine, had 5 years of development and only neds 3 million. That around the ball park for some AAA games.

 

[Corpekata]

Ninja Theory and Sumo Digital also worked on Disney Infinity 3.0 and they are doing fine.

I don't know about that with NT. For the past three years (really 4 by the time Hellblade comes out) their ouput was Disney and a remaster, and Hellblade has clearly struggled given its relatively long delays and revamps. If Hellblade bombs I would not be surprised if they follow UFG's lead.

 

[PrismStar]

Gosh... I want more Sleeping Dogs, or at least Wei Shen

 

[LelouchZero]

Damn that's terrible, it's a real shame to see them go.

 

[JigglesBunny]

Son of a bitch man, they really were a great team. Loved ModNation so much.

Hope everyone lands on their feet.

 

[Matt]

I was hinting into contracts and finances If said title isn't being sold, isn't actively being worked on because it was cancelled then there's no money coming in. It's hardly ridiculous unless you think people work for free.

Anywho, someone who mentioned they had ties to this stated they got paid enough to stay afloat.

Once again, UFG was paid for a contact expansion that was released, development wasn't shut down during and no milestone payments were missed. Without DI it's more likely UFG would have closed down earlier.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

damn sleeping dogs was stellar.

 

[Why would you do that?]

Wow, very sad. I am always sad when a studio closes, but this one is one of the harder hitting ones. Sleeping Dogs was just that good (I always call it a "better Yakuza") and Smash and Grab was looking really good as well.

 

[eFKac]

Decent studio, sad to see them go.

Was hoping for a kart racer on the PS4, now those chances drop.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Once again, UFG was paid for a contact expansion that was released, development wasn't shut down during and no milestone payments were missed. Without DI it's more likely UFG would have closed down earlier.

People always use threads like these to witchhunt publishers or 2nd guess business decisions we really have no real insight into. Gotta find a bad guy.

 

[BLOODED_hands]

Damn. Pour one out for the Sun on Yee ;_;

Hope everybody bounces back stronger!

 

[petethepanda]

Man. Shit.

Hope everyone lands on their feet.

 

[ScientificPizza]

Truly sad. Sleeping Dogs is a marvel.

 

[super-famicom]

I bought Sleepy Dawgs three times!

RIP United Front, and thank you for the awesome game.

 

[scitek]

What I don't get is, Sleeping Dogs was originally a True Crime game that was canceled, then Square Enix stepped in to save it. It does well for them, then they just refuse to do anything else with the IP. It's really baffling.

 

[Jimrpg]

Complete nonsense. United Front can't do shit if they don't have the money to do it and Square Enix obviously didn't want a Sleeping Dogs 2, so what exactly were they meant to do?

This really sucks. I was pretty disappointed by Modnation Racers and LBP Karting but Sleeping Dogs was such a fantastic game and I was hoping they'd only build from there.

Best of luck to all the people being layed off.

I don't really see how the management can be made responsible for this. An independent developer can't fund an open world game like Sleeping Dogs by themselves and Square Enix obviously wasn't interested in funding it. SE was ready to fund development of Triad Wars, so they went for it. After it they had to go at it alone and thus developed another smaller Early Access Multiplayer Game.

By the way, is Smash + Grab worth trying? Heard some encouraging things about the game.

There's always two sides to a deal, SE wanted them to make a MMO reusing sleeping dogs assets, and UFG obviously obliged in return for developer fees i.e. Salaries. Is that not an upper management decision on UFG? They gambled and lost. They misread the market. And last I checked UFG self published Smash and Grab on steam so they rolled the dice again. Don't tell me the CEO and whoever else makes key decisions sits idly by at UFG and waits for the inevitable implosion.

Anyway I don't want to turn this into a blame game, they were tremendous developers and it was a shame they didn't go on to better things.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

What I don't get is, Sleeping Dogs was originally a True Crime game that was canceled, then Square Enix stepped in to save it. It does well for them, then they just refuse to do anything else with the IP. It's really baffling.

it's possible they didn't want to invest the hefty resources necessary to create a modern gen open world crime game. Because the original did well in 2012 doesn't really guarantee anything in 2016 or 2017 or whenever a sequel would have been released. These things are not automatic. The video game market can be incredibly fickle and hard to read and what was hot one year can be passe just a few years later.