Those of you waiting to sink your teeth into another Sherlock Holmes mystery will have to wait a little bit longer, as the upcoming release of the Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened remake has been delayed by a few weeks to an unspecified date. To help fans understand exactly why the game has been delayed, Frogwares released a new video on its YouTube channel in which is explains the realities of trying to develop a game amidst an invasion.
For those that aren't aware, Frogwares is a Ukrainian game studio which has stayed in the country while other developers relocated due to the Russian invasion. Frogwares explains that because Russia is failing to gain any signifcant ground, it has resorted to targeting crucial civilian infrastructure such as power stations. As a result, Ukraine has had to implement scheduled blackouts to try and reserve power, with civilians being forced to turn to generators and other means for their electricity.
"Had a busy day at work cause we are preparing for the release, and I just came home, but there's no electricity yet again due to another russian bombing," explains one developer who's recorded a segment of the video from their home. "I'd like to make something to eat, but instead I'll sit in darkness and stare at the wall."
Turns out, electricity is pretty important when you're trying to prepare for the release of a video game. To make matters worse, the blackouts mean that some developers are forced to go back into Frogwares' offices after shifting to remote work due to the pandemic. Blackouts affect different parts of the country at different times too, meaning some developers "have to shuffle between the office and [their] homes several times a day" while those that don't live in Kyiv can only viably work in the evening or at night.
This means that not all developers are working at the same time, and it's drastically dragging out the length of time it takes to complete simple tasks. One developer explains that tasks that usually "take a couple of hours to resolve" now take "a couple of days." Frogwares also explains that ironing out bugs and releasing the game on nine different systems at once has been a tricky undertaking, made even worse by the problems mentioned above.
At the end of the video, Frogwares reassures fans that the delay won't be too long as the game is being pushed back to April at the latest. Right now, the game is currently undergoing its final QA, as the team polishes the game up and gets ready for launch. It's also explained in the video's description that Frogwares plans to announce a solid release date around a month from launch, but I think I can speak for all of its fans when I say I'm sure we don't mind waiting even longer if its necessary.