Sherlock Holmes games have mysteriously disappeared from sale, developers have attacked the publisher

The Frogwares development team has accused Focus Home Interactive of not wanting to give them rights to Sherlock Holmes games even though their contract has expired.

The latest case of controversy in the video game industry is exactly the case for Detective Sherlock Holmes. Except that he is not really there - that is, he himself disappeared as a major subject of controversy. Specifically, detective games about Sherlock Holmes, run by Frogwares Studio, have begun to disappear from sales on PlayStation and Xbox consoles. This includes games like Sherlock Holmes Vs. Jack the Ripper, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments.

The problem, however, is not that the games were withdrawn from sale. The problem is that the Frogwares team cannot get the right to distribute their games even though they own the games. The reason for this is allegedly a new item in a contract that Focus Home Interactive added last week, just before their contract with Frogwares expired. Under this item, Focus Home Interactive is under no obligation to transfer to developers the rights to distribute games that are removed from the Focus Catalog.

At the time of writing the article, Focus Home Interactive did not respond and it is unknown what their side of the story is. It is clear, however, that this could hurt their image as many in the video game industry have already condemned their move without the other side of the story being revealed.