Frogwares

Last updated

Frogwares
Company type Private
Industry Video games
Founded2000
Headquarters Kyiv, Ukraine
Dublin, Ireland
Key people
Waël Amr (CEO, president)
Products Sherlock Holmes series
Number of employees
80+ [1]
Website frogwares.com

Frogwares is a Ukrainian video game development studio headquartered in Kyiv with subsidiary offices in Dublin, Ireland. [1] The studio and its subsidiaries develop adventure games for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch as well as PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, and mobile.

Contents

Frogwares created the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series, which sold around seven million copies worldwide. [2]

The studio released its first open world investigation video game, The Sinking City , inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft, in 2019. [3]

History

Frogwares was founded in 2000 in Ukraine and Ireland by French expatriates. [4] Waël Amr is the CEO. The name "Frogwares" comes from the derogatory term "froggies" to designate people of French origin. [4]

When it was created, the studio was made up of a team of six people which then expanded to reach eighty employees in 2018. [1] The studio specialized in the Sherlock Holmes adventure games series.

With Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Persian Carpet (2008), Frogwares began to develop casual games. The studio created in 2011 a dedicated subsidiary, Waterlily Games. The casual games produced by the studio are often distributed exclusively for download, with the exception of the "Sherlock Holmes" casual games, which are also published on physical media.

In 2010, Frogwares released World of Battles, its first multiplayer MMORTS. World of Battles is a strategy game that takes place in a fantastic medieval universe where the player trains and controls an army and must succeed in defeating other armies controlled by other players to recover gems.

In 2013, Frogwares opened a second subsidiary, 3AM Studios, to release Magrunner: Dark Pulse (2013), a strategic sci-fi shooter based on the magnetization of cubes and platforms to move through each level. The game is considered a Portal-like.

In 2014, Focus Home Interactive announced a Call of Cthulhu game developed with Frogwares, however both later separated. [5]

On 24 February 2022, Frogwares posted on social media about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and how it has affected the development team. [6] They have published a series of similar messages since. [7]

Games developed

YearTitlePublisher/

Distributor

GenrePC 7th Gen 8th Gen 9th Gen Other
2002 Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy Frogwares, Wanadoo, The Adventure Company Adventure Windows ——— DS
2003 Journey to the Center of the Earth FrogwaresAdventure, point and click Windows ————
2004 Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Silver Earring Frogwares, Ubisoft, Digital Jesters Adventure Windows Wii ———
2005 80 Days Focus Entertainment, Tri Synergy Windows ————
2007 Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened Frogwares, Focus Entertainment Windows ————
Sherlock Holmes vs. Arsène Lupin Windows ————
2008 Dracula: Origin Focus Entertainment, The Adventure Company, 93GAMES, QVS InternationalAdventure, point and click Windows ————
2009 Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper Frogwares, Focus Entertainment Adventure Windows X360 ———
2011World of Battles: MorningstarFrogwaresMMORTS Windows ————
2012 The Testament of Sherlock Holmes Frogwares, Focus Entertainment Action Adventure Windows PS3, X360 PS4, XOne — Switch
2013 Magrunner: Dark Pulse FrogwaresAction Adventure, puzzle Windows PS3, X360 ———
2014 Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments Focus Entertainment Action Adventure Windows PS3, X360 PS4, XOne — Switch
2016 Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter Frogwares, Bigben Interactive Windows — PS4, XOne — Switch
2019 The Sinking City Action Adventure, open-world Windows — PS4, XOne PS5, Xbox Series X/S Switch
2021 Sherlock Holmes Chapter One Frogwares Windows — PS4 PS5, Xbox Series X/S —
2023 Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened FrogwaresAction Adventure Windows — PS4, XOne PS5, Xbox Series X/S Switch
2025 The Sinking City 2 FrogwaresSurvival Horror Windows —— PS5, Xbox Series X/S —

Casual adventure games

Casual games are developed under the name Waterlily Games. This sub-studio is focused on casual, hidden object, and light adventure games for PC and iOS.

Litigations

The studio has encountered several disputes with its business partners. In 2002, the distribution of the game Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy was made by intermediaries who did not pay the studio honestly: Frogwares filed several lawsuits against them. [4]

The studio then chose Focus Home Interactive as a licensee from 2004–2005 to 2014–2015. [8]

In 2019, Frogwares claimed Focus Home Interactive was not the publisher of the games, but a distribution intermediary that did not participate in the financing of games. [8] The relationship between the two companies ended in a dispute in the fall of 2019 when Focus Home Interactive's license ended. The situation has resulted in the temporary withdrawal of most Frogwares games from these platforms. The development studio, who remains the sole owner of the rights, had to initiate new certifications and online publishing processes for each of its games so that they are available again on the websites concerned. [8] The games thus reappeared gradually at the start of 2020. [8]

In a blogpost from August 2020, Frogwares alleged that Bigben Interactive (now Nacon) used their The Sinking City IP inappropriately and therefore terminated their contract with Bigben Interactive and withdrew the game from download platforms. [9] In January 2021, the game was restored to stores by court order as the contract was terminated in a 'manifestly unlawful' manner. [10] Frogwares had urged users not to purchase certain versions of The Sinking City, such as the version that was returned to Steam, stating these versions were not created by them. [11] On January 2, 2024, Frogwares announced that they became the sole publisher of the game for all platforms, resolving its legal dispute with Nacon. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy</i> 2002 video game

Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy is an adventure game for Microsoft Windows, developed by Frogwares and released in 2002. The player controls Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, as he investigates the mysteriously abandoned mansion of British archeologist Lord Montcalfe. It is the first in the Sherlock Holmes series of adventure games developed by Frogwares and Viva Media, and was ported to the Nintendo DS in 2009.

<i>Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Silver Earring</i> 2004 video game

Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Silver Earring is a video game developed by Frogwares and published in 2004 for Microsoft Windows by Digital Jesters in Europe and Ubisoft in North America. While the game is "inspired by The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", it uses an original plotline — set in London in 1897 — and allows the player to investigate a murder as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John H. Watson. A version for Wii was also released in Europe in 2011. By 2010, Secret of the Silver Earring had sold 500,000 copies worldwide.

<i>Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened</i> 2007 video game

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<i>Sherlock Holmes Versus Arsène Lupin</i> 2007 video game

Sherlock Holmes Versus Arsène Lupin is an adventure game developed by Frogwares. The fourth game in the Sherlock Holmes series, it was released in October 2007 and is distributed by Focus Home Interactive. It was preceded in 2002 by Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy, in 2004 by Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Silver Earring and in 2007 by Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened.

<i>Sherlock Holmes</i> (video game series) Series of adventure video games

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<i>Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper</i> 2009 video game

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<i>Dracula: Origin</i> 2008 video game

Dracula: Origin is a point-and-click adventure game for the PC based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Released by Frogwares in 2008, it follows the company's catalogue of adventure games such as the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series.

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<i>Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Osborne House</i> 2010 video game

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<i>Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments</i> 2014 video game

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<i>Magrunner: Dark Pulse</i> 2013 video game

Magrunner: Dark Pulse is a puzzle game developed by Frogwares. It was released as a downloadable title on Microsoft Windows on 20 June 2013, PlayStation Network on 23 October 2013, and Xbox Live Arcade on 25 October 2013. Magrunner: Dark Pulse is set in a cyberpunk reimagining of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.

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<i>Sherlock Holmes: The Devils Daughter</i> 2016 video game

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<i>The Sinking City</i> 2019 video game

The Sinking City is an action-adventure game developed by Frogwares and inspired by the works of horror fiction author H. P. Lovecraft. Set in the fictional city of Oakmont, Massachusetts during the 1920s, the story follows private investigator and war veteran Charles W. Reed as he searches for clues to the cause of the terrifying visions plaguing him, and becomes embroiled in the mystery of Oakmont's unrelenting flooding.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Information about Frogwares company
  2. ↑ Christopher Dring, "The secret success of the Sherlock Holmes video games", GamesIndustry.biz, 5 April 2017
  3. ↑ "The Sinking City official page". Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 LFP, Interview de Waël Amr (in French), Planète Aventure, 30 September 2008
  5. ↑ O'Connor, Alice (8 March 2016). "The Sinking City: Frogwares' Lovecraftian Investigation". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 5 November 2019. The Ukrainian studio, best known for their Sherlock Holmes investigate 'em ups, had been working on a Call of Cthulu game for publisher Focus Home but… well, another studio is doing that.
  6. ↑ @Frogwares (24 February 2022). "We can't just stand by. Russia attacks our homeland and denies the sovereignty of Ukraine. We are trying to stay sa…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ↑ "Inwazja Rosji na Ukrainę - cios w gamingowe serce Europy?". Logo24 (in Polish). Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Xavier Bargue (22 February 2020). "Waël Amr: "Focus's relationship to Frogwares has never been that of a publisher to a developer"". Planète Aventure.
  9. ↑ "The Sinking City is Being Delisted. Here's Why". Frogwares. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  10. ↑ Batchelor, James. "The Sinking City returns to stores as Nacon wins first decision in legal dispute". GamesIndustry.biz.
  11. ↑ Van Allen, Eric (26 February 2021). "The Sinking City developer asks users not to buy its game on Steam". GamesIndustry.biz . Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey. "Frogwares is now publisher of The Sinking City". Gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
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