BlueTwelve Studio

BlueTwelve Studio is an independent French video game developer based in Montpellier, Occitanie. Its work centres on original games that combine third-person exploration, narrative, atmospheric environments and character animation. The studio develops its own intellectual property rather than undertaking external client contract work.

The company originated in 2015, when former Ubisoft Montpellier developers Colas Koola and Vivien Mermet-Guyenet began prototyping a cat-led adventure under the working title HK_Project. Early visual development appeared on the founders’ public devblog, which remains the studio’s primary web presence. The business was formally incorporated in July 2016 and grew from an apartment-based operation into a dedicated development team.

Games and development

Its debut game, Stray, follows a cat through a dystopian, cyberpunk-inspired city. Developed by BlueTwelve and published by Annapurna Interactive, it brings together environmental storytelling, exploration and puzzle design with feline movement and quadruped animation. The project’s early working title, HK_Project, refers to the development history of Stray rather than a separate forthcoming game.

Stray launched on July 19, 2022, for Windows PC, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Subsequent releases brought it to Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in August 2023, macOS in December 2023, and Nintendo Switch in November 2024. These releases extended the same original title across desktop and console platforms.

The studio’s capabilities span gameplay programming, art direction, 3D modelling, narrative design, level design and atmospheric lighting. Its environment work combines stylized photorealistic imagery with detailed worldbuilding, while its animation work focuses on the movement and physical behaviour of its animal protagonist.

As of the October 2026 research, BlueTwelve remains active and is recruiting specialized staff for an unannounced project using Unreal Engine 5. Annapurna Interactive is its external publishing and distribution partner; the studio remains independently owned.