United Front Games, best known for 'Sleeping Dogs,' has shut down

By Gabe Gurwin October 18, 2016

SMASH+GRAB | Early Access Launch Gameplay Trailer

United Front Games, the Canadian developer best known for the open-world adventure game Sleeping Dogs, has closed its doors after nine years.

The developer has not made the announcement official on either its website or Twitter account, which both only make mention of the studio’s most recent project, Smash + Grab. However, former producer Jen Timms confirmed the bad news herself, saying that United Front Games was “the best job [she] ever had and the most wonderful team [she had] ever worked with.”

Just four days ago, Electric Playground host Victor Lucas hosted a gameplay session of Smash + Grab with developer Travis Nordin, where Nordin talked about United Front’s plan to support the game with additional characters in the future — the studio’s closure appears to be a surprise to those affected.

United Front Games’ largest project was Sleeping Dogs, a 2012 adventure that took players into the seedy underground Hong Kong criminal community. It mixed in an intricate hand-to-hand combat system and even included A-list actress Emma Stone as part of its cast, but the game didn’t reach publisher Square Enix’s sales expectations. Two years later, the game was re-released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC as Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition.

Without the go-ahead from Square Enix to produce a sequel to Sleeping Dogs, United Front began work on Triad Wars, an online spin-off taking place in the Sleeping Dogs universe. After a period of beta testing, the game was canceled in late 2015.

In recent years, United Front Games has worked as a support studio for several AAA titles. The studio was responsible for creating the overarching interface for all four games included in Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and it was also responsible for porting the recent Tomb Raider reboot to Xbox One.

Our best wishes go out to everyone affected by United Front Games’ closure.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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