Catching up with BlueTwelve and the world of Stray, right meow

destructoid.com:

Originally released in 2022, Stray‘s tale of friendship and a search for home captivated the collective attention of the gaming world and the internet at large. Initially, that was all thanks to its biggest hook — playing as a cat. A nameless, adorable stray that had many charmed before it’d even launched.

And, to my surprise, what originally sounded like a gimmick turned out to be one of the year’s most creative platformers. Refreshingly, Stray had proven me wrong.

In Stray, you’re an orange tabby in an underground cyberpunk world of robots, many of whom have lost hope that there is a world outside. In a surprisingly heartwarming story with the robot B-12, you go on your quest to find your way home. It’s a semi-open world, giving you areas to explore along its linear tale. In typical cat style, you aren’t limited to the ground and are encouraged to come up with creative solutions to climb and leap around.

If you want to thank anyone, developer BlueTwelve points to the many team cats who served as inspiration. There’s also the adorable real-life stray, Murtaugh, who influenced the game’s protagonist. Little Murtaugh was found under a car, but now lives a comfortable life with one of the co-founders and, occasionally, is lovingly referred to as “the Boss.”

Stray‘s just saw macOS port in December 2023, and has a movie on the way, bringing the tale to the big screen. Though it’s still early days, Annapurna Animation’s lead, Andrew Millstein, explains that the the game was chosen for adaptation because “it is just wildly popular.” In an interview with Swann Martin-Raget from BlueTwelve Studio, Destructoid discussed the world of Stray and what’s to come next.

Destructoid: Stray mostly takes place in Walled City 99. Its cyberpunk aesthetic is beautiful but dystopian, with some inhabitants doubting whether it is even possible to leave the abyss they dwell in. By the end, the game offers a hopeful answer. Was the plan always to make a hope-inspiring game? 

Martin-Raget