Video game Stray helps raise thousands of dollars for charities who care for stray cats

The hugely popular video game Stray has helped raise thousands of dollars for charities caring for stray cats.

The game, developed by BlueTwelve Studio and published by Annapurna Interactive, centers around the story of a cat who must return to his family after falling into a dystopian world full of robots and carnivorous bacteria.

But the game has helped real-life strays looking for a home too. How purrrfect.

Annapurna teamed up with the Nebraska Humane Society and Cats Protection and called on gamers to donate to their animal shelters to win a PS4 or PS5 code to get their hands on Stray.

Annapurna Interactive

Marketing specialist at the Nebraska Humane Society Brendan Gepson described the fundraiser as 'very successful' as it raised more than USD $8,000 (AUD 11,450), according to PBS NewsHour.

The company also worked with streamers, one of which managed to raise around USD $1,500 (AUD $2,147).

Additionally, Annapurna Interactive marketing director Jeff Legaspi sponsored Stray Cat Relief Fund's 5K walkathon last year, which went on to pull in more than USD $6,000 (AUD $8,586).

As the company has dipped its paws into a couple of fundraisers, their efforts even earned them PETA’s 2022 Company of the Year award for portraying the crucial struggles of ‘outdoor cats’.

Past winners have included Good Catch, Support + Feed, Save the Duck, WeWork, Netflix, Beyond Meat, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Bangkok, Daiya, and Emulate.

In 2022, PETA France also praised Stray’s developer, BlueTwelve Studio, for allowing players to channel inner their cat, ‘smashing speciesism’ as they can walk a mile in the protagonist's shoes - or in this case, their four legs.

The game has also helped raise awareness of the importance of adopting feline’s from the animal shelter instead of buying them from the pet store.

Shortly after its release, Stray drew more than 62,000 players simultaneously on Steam, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, as per PETA.

It also garnered more than 285,000 Twitch stream viewers.