Stray’s biggest fans are mesmerized cats

PlayStation exclusive Stray launched to rave reviews, but it seems that house cats are the game's biggest fans.

Stray is definitely the standout game of the July PS Plus line-up. And the good news is that you can try before you buy on PS4 and PS5 thanks to a seven-day free PS Plus trial. The game places you in the furry paws of a lone cat to wander a dangerous cyberpunk city. There are charming robots to interact with, plenty of environmental storytelling to soak up, and a fair few carpets to scratch as you prance about the place as a cute tabby.

Cat lovers across the internet were unsurprisingly excited about the game, but they’re not the only ones who have fallen for the puzzle platformer. Many of their feline friends are just as captivated by Stray, as videos and pictures across social media show cats engrossed in the game.

Cats just wanna have fun

Over on the r/playstation subreddit, users have been sharing images of their cats appearing completely hypnotized by the game. While Stray’s unnamed feline protagonist waltzes about on screen, many players’ pets look on enraptured. Like this handsome fella who’s transfixed by the tabby’s movements:

another_cat_enjoying_stray from r/playstation

Or this inquisitive devil who wanted a better view:

another_cat_owner_whos_cat_is_losing_their_mind from r/playstation

And this jumpy guy who couldn’t resist peeking at two cats nuzzling:

first_2_seconds_of_the_game_and_monty_is_already from r/playstation

It's not just cats, though. Dogs also seem quite taken by the game:

There are many more besides. A lot more, in fact. Seriously, people love posting pictures of their cats gazing at Stray. It’s become something of a trend of the subreddit in the past 24 hours to show just how enraptured your pet really is. 

But their obsession is hardly surprising. Stray’s protagonist was meticulously modeled and animated to authentically reflect the movements of real-life cats. Everything from the way their shoulders move as they walk, to the way they bound between platforms, to how they indifferently shove objects off the edge of furniture looks familiar.

A PlayStation blog post mentions Stray’s main cat animator spent countless hours searching for video reference material in order to accurately imitate the subtleties of feline movement. Together with the studio’s cat programmer, they worked “countless hours together just on the basic movements of the main character, iterating and fine tweaking every little jump and transition”. 

It seems to have paid off. Stray has successfully tricked real cats into believing one of their own has been sucked into the television screen. That level of fidelity must be every animator’s dream.

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