PlayStation promoted its highly-anticipated cyberpunk cat simulator Stray by sharing an image of the feline's real-life inspiration, and gamers instantly fell in love.The gaming giant posted an image of Murtaugh, an orange tabby that served as the primary inspiration and face model for Stray's protagonist. It's accompanied by a blog post detailing Murtaugh's life and the developer's work bringing him into the game. Murtaugh started life as a stray himself before developer BlueTwelve Studio's two cofounders, Koola and Viv, adopted him. "He is also called "The Boss" and even though the character in the game is not a direct reproduction of Murtaugh, he was definitely a huge inspiration for its appearance and was a great support during the whole development," Producer Swann Martin-Raget said in the blog post.
Fans quickly responded to the post, expressing awe and love for Murtaugh, with more than one proclaiming him the greatest video game protagonist of all time. Others expressed their love for cats and the realistic details the developers put into the game, praising their use of Murtaugh in designing the eponymous stray. A string of gamers also posted pictures of their own cats, many of whom are orange as well.
Although Murtaugh served as the physical inspiration for the protagonist, BlueTwelve Studio used a different cat as the actor. In the blog post, Martin-Raget introduced Oscar, a Sphynx used to animate cat-like behaviors and movements. Oscar sat in the office nearly daily during development and described him as "super helpful when Miko needed to have actual video reference of some jumps and runs," Martin-Raget said. "Animating a quadruped is already quite challenging but the subtleties of a cat's movements are incredibly precise and hard to convey properly."
Stray is a Game By Cat Lovers, For Cat Lovers
Stray puts players in the paws of a cat as it explores a forgotten cyberpunk city in search of its home. The gameplay involves puzzles, including using buckets to block fans or break glass ceilings as it traverses the dark streets. The metropolis is curiously populated only by robotic beings, some of whom offer the cat side quests before helping it on its journey. Along the way, a robotic companion, B-12, follows the cat and supports it by attacking rat-like creatures. When not in use, B-12 becomes a cat-sized backpack for the stray to wear.
Though a seemingly simplistic premise, Stray has attracted immense interest since its reveal. It even became Steam's most wish-listed title in the weeks ahead of its release, taking the top spot from larger and more popular incoming games. PlayStation leaned into the cat love with its promotions, including teaming with Travel Cat to make a line of Stray-inspired backpacks for carrying real-life felines in. It also prompted a series of memes, posting an image from Death Stranding with the cat stuck inside a Bridge Baby pod.
Stray launches on July 19 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and PC.
Source: Twitter