Almost done! The release of Stray is very close and we can’t wait to see everyone play and hopefully enjoy what we’ve been working on for so long. And we think now is a great opportunity to tell you a little more about how the game’s protagonist came to life.
As a true stray cat, meaning a cat without an owner, Stray’s protagonist has no name or at least no name that can be spoken in human languages. But that said, the main real-life inspiration behind the creation of this lovable video game character has one. Everyone, I’m happy to introduce the legend: Murtaugh!
Murtaugh is one of the co-founders of two cats (Viv and Koola) and a real stray found on the street near Montpellier, France under a car. But don’t worry, he’s in a much better place. He is also known as “The Boss” and although the character in the game is not a direct copy of Murtaugh, he is certainly a huge inspiration for its appearance and a great support. throughout the entire development process.
While we know we’re not aiming for 100% accurate representation, owning a character is truly believable, especially for cat owners who are so used to seeing Seeing their companions on a daily basis requires a lot of work. Viv and Koola did a lot of very subtle iterations of the cat’s appearance in the game to really try and capture the cute but also lively and playful side of a cat.
But once you have a good image for your character, then you need to animate the character perfectly to really bring your character to life. Miko was our lead cat animator, and he really did an incredible job thanks to his amazing talent and countless hours of searching for references. But not all the references he uses come from the internet. Everyone, I’m once again excited to present the now famous movie actor, the Oscar!
Oscar is a Sphynx who comes to work with us on set almost daily and is very helpful when Miko needs to refer to actual videos of some jumps and runs. Animating a four-legged one is already quite challenging but the subtleties of a cat’s movements are extremely precise and difficult to convey properly.
Miko and Rémi, our cat programmers, worked countless hours together on just the main character’s basic movements, repeating and refining every little jump and transition to find the point. The perfect sweet between stunning animations and fun and responsive gameplay. Having real cats under our noses throughout development is of course incredibly helpful in many ways.
But I couldn’t leave you all without introducing another very important member of the team to work in the studio with us every day. As chief executive officer general manager commanding director at the studio, he is responsible for monitoring the team’s efforts on a daily basis and making sure everyone is on topic. Here’s the good-for-yourself way: Jun!
Murtaugh, Oscar, Jun and the entire team at BlueTwelve Studio are really excited to finally share what we’ve been working on with so much passion and dedication. Please enjoy our first game everyone and have fun.
Stray will be available starting July 19 with free PlayStation Extra and Premium membership packages. Learn more in This article is on the PlayStation Blog.
