Wartime Releases

Three months ago, our team was happily working on a variety of things — finishing up the Sherlock Holmes Chapter One DLC, the final phases of two Switch releases, PS4 and XB1 optimizations for our latest game, and also the pre-production of our next big title. We were laying the path for development for years to come for our studio. Our earlier move to go and remain fully independent was slowly beginning to solidify itself as something we can achieve so the onus was to keep the studio moving forward.

Then on the morning of February 24th, our plans and lives along with everyone else in Ukraine were thrown into turmoil and chaos. An unprovoked, fullscale russian invasion on the grounds of some made-up Krelim bullshit meant we were now all targets for the next rocket strike, artillery barrage, or rifle rounds in the name of “liberation.”

In the first few days, we did everything we could to ensure everyone on the team was safe and informed on what to do next. Many relocated to other regions in Ukraine away from the fighting while some fled to neighboring EU countries. Some signed up to the armed forces as they had an existing military experience while others got involved full time with humanitarian aid efforts. 

For those of us left, we collectively decided to continue working remotely to keep the studio alive by adapting our workflows to the reality of living and working in a war-torn country. It has been 89 days now since the start of the war and in that time our incredible team has achieved the following:

• On March 3 we re-released Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter on Xbox One.
• On March 22 we released M for Mystery DLC for Sherlock Holmes Chapter One on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
• On March 24 we released The Devil’s Daughter and Crimes & Punishments Bundle for Xbox One.
• On March 24 we rolled out The Devil’s Daughter DLC for Xbox One.
• On April 7 we released Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter and its DLC on Nintendo Switch (April 14th for DLC for Nintendo of America).
• On April 7 we released Chapter One artbook on PC (Steam, GOG, EGS).
• On April 28 we released Chapter One on PlayStation 4 (including all DLCs and Deluxe Edition).
• On May 6 we released The Devil’s Daughter DLC for PlayStation 4.
• On May 12 we released The Devil’s Daughter and Crimes & Punishments Bundle for Switch, and The Lucid Dreamer Bundle for Xbox Series S|X.
• On May 19 we released Sherlock Holmes Essential Bundle for PlayStation 4|5. 
• On May 19 we released Chapter One free DLC — Clergyman Cassock.

We do this because we know that it’s the best way that many of us can fight back right now. The studio’s survival is tied to our own livelihoods which in turn is tied to us being able to keep the country functioning. And when all this is over, much of Ukraine will need to be rebuilt and our team needs to be able to contribute to that economically. And the reason we’re writing this all out so frankly is to show those around the world who follow us that we, just like so many in Ukraine, refuse to lay down and let our fate be decided by some russian madman.

We want to thank all our fans and the general gaming community for rallying around us and the whole country because without you this nightmare would have been even a lot more brutal and lonely to bear. As the Ukrainian armed forces continue to rain down hell on these wretched people who are actively choosing to destroy our country by following orders, we firmly believe Ukraine will come out as victors and remain a free country. Until then we are working hard as a team to support the economy, and our employees, and to show appreciation to our amazing fans.