Stray Release Date, Time, Trailers, Platforms and More

We're closer to the release date of the feline adventure game, Stray, than ever before, with it being finally revealed at the PlayStation State of Play for June. Although much of the game's information is fairly hidden, the trailers have given eager fans an exciting glimpse into the dystopian and Cyberpunk world of Stray. So if you need a full breakdown of the Stray release date, gameplay, trailers, and more, we've got you covered. 

Stray release date & time

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The Stray developer, BlueTwelve Studio, originally said it is aiming for an "early 2022" release, but after missing this, we finally got an official release date at the June State of Play. It's set to come out on July 19, meaning the wait is nearly over after all the years of teasing. 

As for the release time, here is the exact Stray release time per region:

• UK: 5PM (BST)
• Europe: 6PM (CET)
• US East: 12PM (EST)
• US West: 9AM (PST)

Originally, the game was set for release sometime in 2021, however, following the Annapurna Interactive showcase in July 2021, BTS posted on Twitter they were going to delay the game's release to help with the "team's well-being" and to allow more time to work on the "quality" of the game. 

The infamous results of games such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Fallout 76 whose production teams were rushed into meeting tight completion schedules, still looms over game studios and productions. With the added impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, it's no wonder that Stray joined the long list of games which have also had to be pushed back.

Stray: What Is It? 

Stray is an upcoming single player video game published by Annapurna Interactive (AI) and developed by BlueTwelve Studio (BTS), a studio based in Montpellier in the South of France. According to the game's official website, they are a small team "mostly made of cats and a handful of humans". 

BlueTwelve's co-founders, Viv and Koola had previously been working for Ubisoft  when, one sunny evening in the pub, they came up with the idea for Stray. Originally entitled Project_HK, the game caught the attention of Annapurna Interactive and the rest is history. Stray was first announced in June 2020 at the PlayStation Future Of Gaming Event. 

Stray: Story, Plot, And World

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What we know so far about Stray is that we'll play as a lonely stray cat lost in a grim and murky cybercity populated by robots. As it's a third-person game, players must venture through this decaying city's neon-lit alleyways and dirty underbelly, completing puzzles and tasks along the way to progress the storyline and return the stray kitty back to their family. 

Don't worry though, the poor stray isn't completely alone. The city is populated by run-down but characterful robots, including one called Doc. Although it's not yet clear exactly who he is, he bares an uncanny similarity to film favourite Doc Brown from Back To The Future. Not only that, but the cat will be accompanied by a small drone companion called B12 who lives in the cat's computerised backpack and can assist you by translating the robot's language as well as storing items. Beware though. Zurks - the enemies of the game - travel around the dark streets and can attack the player in a vicious swarm.    

There are still a lot of mysteries surrounding Stray's storyline. For example, how did the cat end up in the cybercity in the first place? Are there any humans in this mysterious world? Who are the cat's family? This is all information yet to be revealed but BTS have been good enough to give fans a small taste of exciting things to come.  

Stray Gameplay Trailer

The first teaser trailer for Stray, embedded in the "what is it?" section, was revealed in June 2020 giving fans an exclusive and glossy look into the game's design and style. Furthermore, the trailer introduced the game's main character of the 'cat'. 

Then, in July 2021, PlayStation posted a short gameplay walkthrough of Stray narrated by game producer, Swann. This video gave fans the chance to have a look at how to navigate through the cybercity and the puzzles they can solve as the cat, such as pushing a bucket into a spinning fan in order to pass through it safely or using a vending machine to obtain supplies.   

Since then, we've also had the release date trailer from the June 2022 State of Play. The trailer itself doesn't reveal much more about the game that we didn't know already, but it seems to show off a few locations that were previously unseen.

Stray Platforms

Stray is set to be released as a PlayStation console exclusive. However, it will be available to purchase on Steam. Subsequently, this means the full list of Stray platforms is as follows:

• PC
• PS4
• PS5

It's also set to be available on the new PlayStation Plus service, which functions similarly to Xbox Game Pass.