Q960786

Sleeping Dogs is a 2012 action-adventure game developed by United Front Games and published by Square Enix. The game was released for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360 in August 2012. Set in contemporary Hong Kong, the story follows Wei Shen, a Hong Kong-American police officer and martial artist who goes undercover and infiltrates the Sun On Yee Triad organization. Gameplay focuses on Shen's martial arts moves, fighting, shooting and parkour abilities, and on gadgets that can be used for combat and exploration. The player must complete missions to unlock content and continue the story, but they may instead freely roam the game's open world environment and engage in both legal and criminal activities. The latter may incite a police response, the intensity of which is controlled by a "heat" system. Actions such as fighting, driving and racing grant Shen statistical rewards and earn the player achievements.

Sleeping Dogs' development began in 2008. The game was announced in 2009 as part of the True Crime series but was canceled by Activision Blizzard in 2011, as a result of the project's delays and budget issues. Six months later, Square Enix purchased the publishing rights and retitled the game Sleeping Dogs. While it does not use the True Crime license, it is considered to be a spiritual successor. During development, United Front staff visited Hong Kong to conduct field research for the visual environments and sound. Square Enix London Studios worked with United Front for the development.