Frogwares save Sherlock Holmes on PC, but 9 of their games vanish from stores
This case is far from closed
A foul fate has befallen detective game developers Frogwares. After accusing publisher Focus Home Interactive of foul play, nine of ten games threatened with delisting have been removed from sale. Fortunately, it's not a total loss. The sole PC entry in the targeted lineup, Sherlock Holmes: Crime And Punishments has been saved on Steam and secured its survival with a new release on GOG. If the Reichenbach Falls couldn't keep Holmes down for good, what chance did a publishing scuffle have?
The bulk of affected games are older releases on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Fortunately, Frogwares games like The Sinking City and Magrunner are safe because they were self-published or with other partners. That's a pretty slim silver lining on the massive cloud of problems for Frogwares, though. Losing the bulk of your back-catalogue must sting real hard.
Now, Frogwares are looking for ways to get their games back online, and CEO Wael Amr doesn't believe it'll be an easy ride.
“The outcome is pretty bleak, and we are now fighting an uphill battle, trying to resubmit our games back on their stores where possible. As we previously said, the process is going to take several months, but there's hope and we will continue to push on. We are forever grateful for the sheer amount of public and industry-wide support we got, and we truly appreciate everyone who added their voice to the issue."
Just in case they're not successful in getting their games back in the wild, Frogwares have put together a free PDF containing "memories, stories and art" from the affected Sherlock games. These cases might be closed, but you can still peruse some pictures by downloading it as free DLC for Crime And Punishments on Steam, redeeming it on GOG with the code SWEETTHANKS, or a direct download on Frogwares's own site.