United Front Games
|
Logo of United Front Games | |
| Private | |
| Industry |
Computer and video games Interactive entertainment |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Defunct | October 17, 2016 |
| Headquarters | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
Key people | Stephen van der Mescht[1] |
| Products |
ModNation Racers Sleeping Dogs LittleBigPlanet Karting |
| Website | www.unitedfrontgames.com |
United Front Games was a Canadian development studio based in Vancouver. They created titles for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. They are the developers of ModNation Racers and the critical and commercial success Sleeping Dogs in addition to collaborating with other studios on projects like Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (Crystal Dynamics) and Halo: The Master Chief Collection (343 Industries).[2][3]
Created in 2007, the studio consisted of former members of EA Black Box, Rockstar Vancouver, Radical Entertainment and Volition, all of which made video games with an open world setting. In 2016, United Front Games officially closed down.[4]
History
United Front Games was founded in 2007. Its first official title was ModNation Racers, a user-generated content kart racing game, which began production in 2008 and was released in May 2010. In August 2012, they released Sleeping Dogs (previously known as True Crime: Hong Kong). While it is widely believed that Sleeping Dogs was originally conceived as a title in the True Crime series, it was in fact built from the ground up as an original intellectual property.[5] United Front Games also made LittleBigPlanet Karting with help from the series creators Media Molecule.
United Front Games also worked on the Xbox One version of Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition.[6]
Recently completed was a next-gen release of Sleeping Dogs for the PS4 and Xbox One called Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition, which was released in October 2014.[7] In September 2014 United Front Games announced Triad Wars, an online open world action-adventure. Originally targeted for an early 2015 release on PC, Triad Wars was game set in the Sleeping Dogs' Hong Kong universe.[8] However, in December 2015 United Front announced the January 2016 closure of the Triad Wars open beta.[9]
In collaboration with Microsoft Studios owned developer 343 Industries, United Front Games built the unified front end that tied together the four Halo series video games within the Halo: The Master Chief Collection compilation published in November 2014.[3]
On October 17, 2016, United Front Game announced closure even though their newest game Smash+Grab, an online multiplayer brawler, had only been out for less than a month on Steam Early Access. No other details have come from United Front Games regarding the closure of the studio.[10]
Games Developed
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS3 | PS4 | Win | OS X | X360 | XOne | OnLive | WiiU | ||
| 2010 | ModNation Racers | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| 2012 | Sleeping Dogs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2012 | LittleBigPlanet Karting | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| 2014 | Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| 2014 | Halo: The Master Chief Collection | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| 2016 | Disney Infinity 3.0 – Marvel Battlegrounds | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Cancelled | Smash+Grab | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Cancelled | Triad Wars | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
References
- ↑ Usher, William (2009-12-14). "True Crime Prepping To Redefine Open-World Action In Fall 2010". Cinema Blend. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
- ↑ "United Front Games Official Website". Retrieved 2012-08-31.
- 1 2 "UFG/Microsoft: Halo: The Master Chief Collection". Retrieved 7 November 2014.
- ↑ Gwaltney, Javy. "United Front Games Closes Its Doors". GameInformer.com. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ↑ Reilly, Luke. "Sleeping Dogs Never Intended to be a True Crime Game". IGN.
- ↑ "Tomb Raider Definitive Edition Announced". Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ↑ McWhertor, Michael (2014-08-06). "Sleeping Dogs coming to PS4, Xbox One this October". Polygon. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
- ↑ Martin, Michael (2014-09-23). "UNITED FRONT GAMES OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCES TRIAD WARS FOR PC". IGN. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
- ↑ "Triad Wars on Twitter: "The Triad Wars beta will shut down on January 20th, 2016. ... "".
- ↑ http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2016/10/17/united-front-games-closes.aspx