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Ouya Free the Games Fund project 'Elementary, My Dear Holmes' suspended by Kickstarter
The crowdfunding campaign for Elementary, My Dear Holmes was suspended by Kickstarter today. The point-and-click adventure game had already reached its $50,000 goal, earning $58,770 before its suspension, days before it was slated to end on September 13. The reasons for the project's suspension by Kickstarter are unclear, though the developer said it addressed concerns regarding "suspicious accounts" that supported the game. "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," the game's creator Sam Chandola told backers. "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." Ouya announced its $1 million Free the Games Fund program in July as a means of encouraging developer support of its console by offering monetary rewards for successful Kickstarter-funded games that vow to remain Ouya-exclusive for six months. Elementary, My Dear Holmes was one of two games that reached its funding goals last week as part of the program. The other game, Gridiron Thunder, fell under scrutiny for the amount of funding it received from just 126 backers. According to Ouya, the project "successfully qualified to receive the match," and is still up on Kickstarter, sitting at $114,437 from 161 funders with 46 hours before the campaign ends.
