Who hasn’t dreamed of sleeping 20 hours a day, being highly agile, and dropping everything in their path to annoy people? French BlueTwelve Studio has done it lost, his very first production. In this adventure game, released on July 19 on PC, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, the player takes on the role of a stray cat who finds himself in an underground city inhabited by robots.
Accompanied by a small drone he meets along the way, he will try to make his way to the surface in an attempt to escape the destitutes, mutated creatures that devour everything in their path. The highly anticipated BlueTwelve’s work was well received by gamers and netizens alike.
Small team, long development
lost It is the result of the work of BlueTwelve, a small studio in Montpellier founded in 2016. Former Ubisoft Montpellier graphic designers Koola and Viv wanted to create their own video game as an independent. They started the project in 2015. When they released the first images of their game, they were noticed by the famous American publisher Annapurna Interactive (Flower, Travel, Outdoor Wildlife…). In 2016, they signed a publishing contract.
The BlueTwelve company is growing as the project progresses and now includes 17 people. “There’s a lot of discussion, flexibility and fluidity in a human-sized company.”explains Swann Martin-Raget, producer. “Large companies of 100 people are common in video games, but they lose the ease of communication because of an overly hierarchical system.”.
the development of lost lasted seven years. The project faced two difficulties. The first is the reduced composition of the team. “You can’t do everything when you’re under 20.”watched by Swan Martin-Raggett. “We had to make a choice, namely replacing people with robots. Human modeling took too much time and resources.”.
The second would be to find gameplay mechanics that don’t conflict with the environment’s design. “Koola and Viv were inspired by the narrow streets and buildings of Kowloon Citadel near Hong Kong. Adding 3D decor elements is quite simple, but here everything became a potential research platform for the cat. We had to think about the effect of the world on the gameplay to avoid breaking the rhythm..
The team also spent time taking care of the animation and behavior of the cat we play. Meowing, rubbing against legs, growling… the end result is stunningly realistic. “80% of the team has cats and two small felines accompanied us to the studio during development. It is an animal that fascinates us and that we have spent a long time watching. explains the producer.
Good luck on social media!
Meanwhile, publisher Annapurna briefed Sony on progress in development lost. Sure enough, the Japanese group included a trailer for the game at its online conference, The Future of Gaming. Then in 2020 we “Such contact is very impressive for a small team”,’ recalls Swan Martin-Raggett. “Introducing the first trailer and gameplay elements is an exciting but stressful time».
The first images of the game are a hit with the netizens and the enthusiasm surrounding it lost then starts to rise. “Given the interest of the players, we didn’t want to let each other down. It made us take a step back from our work.”, the producer emphasizes. With its condensed history, lost completed without much difficulty in about 6 hours. The developers bet on a fluid and rhythmic adventure rather than complicating the game mechanics. “That everyone can go to the end game and the story, that felt important to us. Wandering is above all a journey”explains Swann Martin-Raget.
The bet seems successful. Netizens on social media have taken over lost since release : vsaccounts that group cats’ interactions with the gamefan art, game changes to include his own cat appearance. “We’re excited to see players engage with the story and connect with the characters.”the producer is moved. “It’s funny, we get a lot of emails from people telling us that they’ve become close to their cat after playing the game, or that they want to adopt one.”.
The game is part of the PlayStation Plus Extra subscription launched by Sony at the end of June for its PlayStation 4 and 5 consoles, which guarantees: lost wide visibility. On the PC Stream platform, the game collects 97% positive reviews from players. However, neither the studio nor its publisher has released sales figures yet.
The rest of BlueTwelve’s adventures remain a mystery. “For now, we’re following player feedback, taking note of negative feedback to find ways to improve, and fixing bugs. The team doesn’t want to rush a response, and we’re learning from the doors that fans are opening with Stray. We always have a lot of ideas, but knowing what makes sense is a decision we all make together.”
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.