Sherlock Holmes remains one of the world's most familiar names. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic British detective even has a long history of well-loved video games. One such title is Frogwares' 2006 adventure game Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened. Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened is particularly interesting due to its combination of a detective story with Lovecraftian horror, and Frogwares agrees, as it has now announced it's rebuilding Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened.
"Rebuilding" is a curious term for the project rather than remastering or remaking it, but that's exactly how Frogwares characterizes the project in its announcement press release. Frogwares is creating all-new code and assets for its new version of Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened. The new game will be built using Unreal Engine 4, and while it will take some assets from Frogwares' Sherlock Holmes as it makes sense, it will otherwise be rebuilt from the ground up.
The new Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened won't just be a 1:1 recreation of the original game, either. Frogwares has big plans for how it wants to improve and expand on the original title. Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened's story is going to be rewritten to feature a younger Sherlock Holmes as a protagonist. Further, it will "amplify" the story surrounding Holmes and Watson becoming close. New side-quests will be added, new English voiceover will be recorded, cutscenes and animations will be overhauled, and much more will be added to the game.
With that said, Frogwares is planning to retain the spine of the original Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened in its rebuilding. The underlying story of the original game and its core mysteries and cases will be what Frogwares retains and builds the rest of the experience around. It's effectively a new game, but will also build on what came before.
The new Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened project is going to need some help being made, however. Frogwares is planning to launch a Kickstarter project "to secure the final parts of production." The first trailer for the rebuilt game will be released alongside the launch of the Kickstarter campaign. A date hasn't been set, but expect news to be shared soon.
As for why Frogwares is developing a remake of Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened instead of continuing what it started with Sherlock Holmes Chapter One, it's likely complicated. Frogwares is located in Kyiv, Ukraine, where Russia's war of aggression has had indescribable consequences. If this is the chosen direction for Frogwares and its Sherlock Holmes series, it's worth trusting that this is the right path forward. Expect more news regarding Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened before long.
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened is in development.