page_title: Sleeping Dogs (video game)
section_title: Marketing and release
hierarchical_section_title: Sleeping Dogs (video game) / Marketing and release
caption_attribution_description: Pictures from E3 2012, Day 1 - From GeekGamer.TV
context_page_description: Sleeping Dogs is an action-adventure video game developed by United Front Games and published by Square Enix. It was originally released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Set in contemporary Hong Kong, the story follows Wei Shen, an undercover Chinese-American police officer on assignment to infiltrate the Sun On Yee Triad organization. Gameplay focuses on Shen's fighting, shooting and parkour abilities, and on gadgets that can be used for combat and exploration. Players 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' difficult and prolonged 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.
context_section_description: United Front Games relied on viral marketing, such as Internet advertisements and TV trailers, prior to Sleeping Dogs's release. The production team promoted the game with regular communication on social networking websites. They also promoted it at video game conventions such as Game Developers Conference, PAX East, MCM London Comic Con, E3, Comic Con, and Gamescom.
  Square Enix revealed North American pre-order bonuses for Best Buy, GameStop and Amazon customers in April 2012; each retailer offered its own exclusive in-game content pack. A United Kingdom limited edition release contained two such packs, and an Australian special edition, sold through EB Games and JB Hi-Fi, included all three packs at no added cost.
  Further marketing of Sleeping Dogs was via cross-promotion on different platforms; players who bought the game through Steam received an eight item pack for Team Fortress 2, which was later made available for separate purchase, and a Hong Kong-themed Team Fortress 2 level, Kong King. Owners of Just Cause 2 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or PC received automatic access to a Sleeping Dogs character outfit in the style of Just Cause 2 protagonist Rico Rodriguez. The outfit increases the player's action hijack statistics and increases the range from which the player can perform stunt takeovers of enemy vehicles.
  The game was released on August 14, 2012 in North America, August 16 in Australia, and August 17 in Europe. The September 27 Japanese release was titled Sleeping Dogs: Hong Kong Secret Police (スリーピングドッグス 香港秘密警察) and was censored to pass the classification by the Japanese ratings board CERO. Differences include penalties for attacking civilians, lack of a street race flagger and a less explicit sex scene.
  An enhanced version, subtitled Definitive Edition, was released on October 10, 2014 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It includes all the 24 previously released downloadable contents (DLCs) and features improved graphical resolution and gameplay, setting and audiovisual quality changes based on community feedback.
caption: Sleeping Dogs booth at E3 2012
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