The campaign for the controversial Ouya exclusive game Elementary, My Dear Holmes has been suspended as of Friday, September 6. This game, had it not been suspended, would have qualified for Ouya matching funds for the Free The Games program. However, Elementary had been plagued with controversy since shortly after starting due to numerous seemingly fake accounts backing it and pushing it to full funding within a few days of launching.
Kickstarter has given no word to any backers nor to the project’s creator on why it has been suspended. We asked Sam Chandola what he knew about the suspension and he was not sure as Kickstarter doesn’t provide that information. In a message sent to backers, Sam reaffirms that he had been trying to verify the authenticity of the alleged fake accounts.
When the uproar against Elementary, My Dear Holmes was brought up, we contacted Kickstarter and Amazon, asking them to investigate the accounts and take action accordingly. We wanted to get on top of this and did not want anything to do with any of what was happening as it was an extremely negative campaign for us. Strong personal accusations were going up against us, and it was a huge drain on our time, energy and resources.
We had been hoping that the suspicious accounts would have been suspended so that we could keep on going strong and without controversy, but instead it was the project that got so. We are, naturally, deeply saddened by this. But if this is what it takes to put an end to the negativity, so be it.
It is a shame that this campaign had so many troubles. While it was ripe with controversy, there has been no verifiable evidence that either Sam or Ouya had done anything wrong in this case. We may never know for sure who was at the root of those potentially fake accounts.
However, Sam does assure those who truly want to see this game made that it will happen. It won’t happen on Kickstarter, but he says that several venture capitalists are interested in funding its development.
We love point-and-click adventure games and this will, by no means, stop us from pursuing Elementary, My Dear Holmes. We are devoted towards the project and will be seeking private equity to finish this up. And I’m happy to say that based on the initial traction that we got here, we are already in talks with some Venture Capitalists who are willing to back this project privately. Elementary, My Dear Holmes will see the light of day – and will see the light of day sooner than later.
While many are sad to see this campaign die in this way, I am sure that there are many more who are ecstatic to see it suspended. From the moment this campaign reached its goal, there were several vocal commenters on the campaign who were doing everything they could to keep the controversy alive. Hopefully, Sam and his company can pull through this and release a great game.
