Stray is helping raise money for real-life strays

The beloved game inspires a slew of charity fundraisers

As if Stray couldn’t get any better, the game that has cat-lovers and gamers alike fawning over its adorable, fuzzy protagonist is also helping out cats in real life. Streamers and Annapurna Interactive, the game’s publisher, have facilitated a whole host of events and services to benefit animal shelters and other cat-related charities, as initially reported by AP.

Annapurna reached out to the Nebraska Humane Society ahead of the game’s launch on July 19 to give them copies of the game to be raffled off as a fundraiser for the shelter. Within a week, they had raised over $7,000 for the cause, including a $1,035 donation from Annapurna themselves. A vast majority of those who donated to the shelter were also new to them, including some international fans of the game.

Annapurna also rented out a cat cafe and cat adoption agency in New York called the Meow Parlour to host an event where visitors could play the game (while being surrounded by cats, no less) and purchase exclusive Stray-themed merchandise. The publisher also donated $1,000 to the institution.

Gamers themselves have also taken up the mantle of doing some good for the stray cats of the world.

A platform called Tiltify, which allows streamers to donate their earnings to nonprofits, has shared that their platform has at least nine new campaigns that mention Stray, and another charity livestream organization JustGiving has identified two more. North Shore Animal League America, a no-kill animal rescue and adoption organization, said they received over $800 from a gaming campaign. A streamer named TreyDay1014 also teamed up with the Nebraska Humane Society, helping them raise over $1,500 by the end of a four-and-a-half-hour stream.

Stray is an undeniably sweet, uplifting game, so it’s not a surprise in the least that the community behind it has rallied to make some awesome real-world change.