Stray Introduces Real-Life Cat That Inspired the Game's Protagonist

gamerant.com:

July is gearing up to be a month filled with exciting releases across the board, with one of the more unique and intriguing titles coming this summer being the PC and PlayStation-exclusive Stray. Developed by BlueTwelve Studio and published by Annapurna Interactive, players take on the role of a stray cat, exploring the neon-lit and gritty depths of a cyberpunk city and fending off all manners of robotic enemies known as Zurks. After being delayed a couple of times, Stray will finally be releasing very soon.

This game is also releasing after the global rollout of PlayStation Plus' rebooted services, with players now being able to subscribe to three different tiers. Stray will be available to subscribers of the Extra and Premium tiers and won't cost anything extra to play. Besides being a day one release for PS Plus, Stray will also release on Steam for PC players. With the release of the game drawing near, the developers decided to show off whom the titular stray is inspired by, including the cats that the team used to model its appearance, animations, and more.

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These photos of Stray's inspirations were shared on PlayStation's blog, starting with the feline protagonist's appearance. The real-life inspiration was a cat known as Murtaugh, who belongs to the cofounders of BlueTwelve Studio, Viv and Koola. Murtaugh was an actual stray who was found in the streets underneath a car in Montpellier, France. He is affectionately known as «The Boss» to the studio, and is easily the most visual indicator of whom Stray's cat is based on.

The studio noted that now that the studio had a visual basis for the protagonist, the next part was the animations for Stray's