Relocation of Developers From Ukraine, Courtesy of Epic Games
Thanks to a grant from Epic Games, Ukrainian studio Frogwares will be able to move its developers from threatened regions to safer locations.
Known for The Sinking City and the adventure game series Sherlock Holmes Ukrainian studio Frogwares has received a grant from Epic Games.
- The funds will enable the relocation of war-threatened employees, as well as providing them with financial stability.
- Some developers will be relocated to safer regions of Ukraine, while others will move to various European Union countries.
- The funds will also be used to fill gaps in developers' equipment and migrate to new data infrastructure.
- No specific amount was provided, but under the MegaGrant program, Epic Games is supporting developers with amounts ranging from $5,000 to $500,000.
- This is not the first such action by Epic Games. In April Epic held a fundraiser, thanks to which $144 million was transferred to aid organizations operating in Ukraine.
As the studio's management explains, the war in Ukraine had a negative impact on the team and disorganized its work. Relocation is supposed to fix that and enable the studio to continue its activities. Many of the company's employees have left work on video games and joined the Ukrainian armed forces, while others have become volunteers in, for example, rescue groups. Frogwares nonetheless continues to pay their salaries. Currently, the studio functions mainly thanks to people residing in other countries, including Ireland, where a smaller branch of the developer is located.
It is worth mentioning that the financial situation of Frogwares is worsened by the conflict with Nacon, which has been going on for years. It results in the fact that the creators do not earn on the Steam edition of The Sinking City .
Recall that the latest project from the studio is Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One. The game was released on November 16, 2021 on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. In April of this year, a PS4 version was released. There were also plans for an Xbox One release, but due to the current situation, work on it was suspended.
