“Stray”: How a virtual orange tabby is helping real cats

Trey knew raising money for animal shelters was a good idea. But he didn't expect to be able to raise so much.

Trey, who asked that his last name not be used, goes by TreyDay1014 when he is online. He is a gamer who lives with his two cats in Omaha, Nebraska. One of the cats was adopted from the Nebraska Humane Society. Recently, Trey was approached by Brendan Gepson, one of the animal shelter's employees, who asked him to help them fundraise. The shelter wanted Trey to livestream while playing a new video game called "Stray."

"Stray" is about an adventurous cat navigating life in a big city. The hero of the game is a daring orange tabby cat. The gamer navigates this orange tabby to do normal cat stuff like walk along railings and knock things off shelves. But the video game cat also has to solve puzzles and escape enemies.

"Stray" is making a big impact in the world of livestream fundraising. Livestreamers record themselves while they play video games and engage with viewers. Online fundraising platforms make it possible for gamers to livestream for a good cause. The gamers playing "Stray" talk about animal shelters and other cat-related charities while playing. The goal is to get the people watching the stream to donate money while they watch.

Recently, Trey livestreamed while playing "Stray." "If I found out my cat was outside doing this, I'd be upset," Trey said while his cat character made a dangerous jump. After his jump, a rusty pipe broke, and Trey's cat character fell into the darkness.

"That is a poor baby," Trey said sadly, "but we are OK."

An Event To Raise Money For Cats

Livestreaming game play for charity isn't new, but the popularity of "Stray" is unusual. It was the fourth most watched and broadcast game on the day it launched on Twitch. That is a popular video game streaming service.

Tiltify is another livestreaming platform that allows nonprofits to receive donations from video streams. Tiltify's CEO said there are nine campaigns on the platform that mention "Stray." JustGiving, which also does charity livestreams, said it identified two campaigns with the game.

The game's publisher, Annapurna Interactive, is committed to helping real cats. About 80 percent of the game's development team are "cat owners and cat lovers." A real-life stray cat and their own pet cats were inspiration, one creator said.

When the game launched on July 19, the company held an event to raise money for cats. Jeff Legaspi works for Annapurna Interactive. He said the company wanted to do something "positively impactful."

The company rented out the Meow Parlour, a cat cafe in New York City. At Meow Parlour, people can play with adoptable cats. At the "Stray" event, visitors could play the game for 20 minutes while surrounded by cats. (The game also captivates cats, videos on social media show.) The cafe and adoption agency received $1,000 in donations thanks to the event.

The goal was to "hopefully bring more awareness to adopting and not shopping for a new pet," Legaspi said.

More Than Just Playing Video Games

Annapuna Interactive also offered two cat rescue and adoption agencies copies of the game to raffle off. One of them was the Nebraska Humane Society. The animal shelter was excited to be involved.

"The whole game and the whole culture around the game, it's all about a love of cats," Gepson said. "It meshed really well with the shelter and our mission."

The shelter got four copies of "Stray" to give away. It asked people for $5 donations to enter them in a raffle to win a copy of the game. In a week, they raised $7,000, Gepson said. They even had people donating from Germany and Malta.

Meanwhile, Trey, the gamer in Nebraska, raised more money than he could have imagined for the Nebraska Humane Society. Trey's goal was to raise $200 for the shelter that day.

In four and a half hours of play in "Stray," Trey raised $1,500 in donations.

"This has opened my eyes to being able to use this platform for a lot more good than just playing video games," Trey said.