Erin Hunter’s Warrior Cats franchise is lastly getting an formally licensed online game coming to all main platforms this fall. We bought to talk with one of the builders behind the turn-based title, who opened up about the crew’s artistic course of and what it’s like bringing the Clans to life.
As a lifelong fan of the Warrior Cats world, I couldn’t consider it after I bought the likelihood to quiz the builders at Bamtang Video games and the of us at Coolabi Group about Clans of the Forest, the upcoming turn-based role-playing recreation primarily based on the 4 unique clans of the Warriors e book sequence.
I additionally get to be the one to fortunately break the information of its official launch date. Warrior Cats: Clans of the Forest will launch on October 23, 2026 on PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Collection X and S, Nintendo Swap, and Nintendo Swap 2.
With that out of the manner, let’s take a dive into my dialog with Adam Johnston, Artistic Director at Bamtang Video games, who assured me that his crew is doing every part they’ll to remain true the the books’ lore — even to the level of bringing in neighborhood members to maintain them on the proper path.
IGN: The Warriors books are beloved by generations of followers. How does it really feel being honored with the job of bringing this world to life?
Adam Johnston: the sheer scale of the world Erin Hunter constructed was a little bit intimidating at first. When you notice simply what number of books, characters, and Clan dynamics exist, you perceive the measurement of the mountain you are climbing. However as quickly as our crew jumped into the tales, that intimidation became pleasure. We fell in love with the lore. Bringing it to life grew to become a dream undertaking for us. To verify we get each element proper, we’ve had devoted tremendous followers working alongside us all through improvement. They preserve us sincere and ensure that we do not by chance violate any sacred Clan traditions alongside the manner. Having their suggestions paired with our crew’s vitality has been superb. Our objective has been to craft one thing deeply genuine for readers who grew up with the sequence, whereas making it simply as participating for somebody discovering Warriors for the first time. It is an enormous duty, however we could not ask for a greater world to construct. If we have now by chance tousled the etiquette of a Gathering, we totally anticipate StarClan to strike us down.
IGN: Inform me a little bit bit about the manufacturing course of for Clans of the Forest. Why a turn-based RPG? Was any inspiration taken from the Roblox recreation?
Adam Johnston: Once you have a look at fight in the books, it is not simply cats slashing wildly at one another. It’s about stealth, positioning, and working as a crew. A turn-based RPG made the most sense as a result of it forces you to suppose strategically as an alternative of simply mashing buttons. It additionally allow us to construct correct crew battles and provides us a strong framework to make fights in opposition to badgers, foxes, or rival patrols truly work mechanically. Designing RPG fight for cats meant ditching normal spells. As a substitute, depth comes from shifting fight Stances. Each transfer you make alters your stance mid-fight, turning battles right into a tactical recreation of studying your opponent and predicting their subsequent transfer earlier than they strike. As for Roblox, tons of respect to that neighborhood. They confirmed everybody years in the past simply how badly followers wished to roleplay on this world. We’re constructing a structured RPG moderately than an open sandbox, however seeing their success gave us rather a lot of confidence that the urge for food was undoubtedly there.
IGN: Why did you make the option to let gamers create their very own cat, moderately than play by the story as one of the established cats in the sequence?
Adam Johnston: When you ask virtually any Warriors fan, the very first thing they did after studying the books was work out what their very own warrior title can be and which Clan they belonged to. Self-expression is a big half of why folks fall in love with this universe in the first place. If we compelled you to play as Firestar or one other established character, you’d simply be working by a narrative the place you already know the way every part seems. Letting gamers create their very own cat fully adjustments the recreation. It provides you unbelievable replayability, as a result of each new cat you make comes with a distinct Clan, look, stat setup, and character. Over time, you are not simply taking part in a single marketing campaign. You are constructing your individual private legacy throughout the forest, populating the world with your individual internet of tales, rivalries, and characters throughout a number of playthroughs.
IGN: How vital was cat customization to you? (As a child who completely designed their very own Warrior Cat OC, consider me, I get the enchantment. Haha!)
Adam Johnston: Everybody who learn these books had a pocket book someplace stuffed with their very own customized cat designs. We knew if we did not give gamers deep customization, we might be lacking the total level of making a Warriors recreation. We wished to be sure you may customise preliminary visuals like pelt patterns and eye colours, but additionally see your cat change as they become old. Your cat will begin out as a cute apprentice and ultimately find yourself trying like a grizzled veteran who has seen manner too many badgers. On prime of that, we tied identification immediately into mechanics. Your Clan, stage, and coaching form your base stats, whereas the decisions you make alongside your journey decide the strikes you be taught. That manner, your cat truly grows up and lives a distinct story in the forest every time.
IGN: Will gamers get to decide on sure roles, like being a Medication Cat? Why or why not?
Adam Johnston: We anchored the participant’s path in the warrior ranks as a result of each Clan wants a transparent chief to face the prophecy, and we wished the participant to be that hero. Whereas being a Medication Cat is a fantasy for lots of followers, their obligation in the lore is therapeutic and non secular steerage, not tactical dueling or Clan management. The emotional climax throughout all 4 Sagas depends on you standing at the head of your Clan throughout its most harmful hour. To provide gamers a Hero’s Journey, we wished your decisions to immediately have an effect on Clan politics and management. That stated, Medication Cats nonetheless play an vital position in your journey. They’re central to the story, non secular steerage, and survival of your Clan, even in case you aren’t the one dishing out catmint your self.
IGN: The Warriors books are recognized for being fairly brutal, regardless of their younger viewers. Was the inclusion of any blood and gore mentioned for this recreation?
Adam Johnston: We mentioned this early on as a result of the books are well-known for his or her fierce battles. However for us, it wasn’t about displaying blood, it was about honoring the resilience of a warrior. We designed stylized visible scars that really feel earned after robust encounters, avoiding something graphic or scary. Giving gamers a toggle to show these scars on or off in the settings was a vital resolution for us: it respects totally different age teams, sensory consolation, and participant company with out diluting the dramatic rigidity of massive vital fights.
IGN: Is any DLC deliberate after the recreation’s launch?
Adam Johnston: Proper now, we’re centered on the launch of the recreation. Any updates or plans for added content material will probably be addressed later.
IGN: And at last, do you’ve got a message to the followers about what they’ll anticipate from Clans of the Forest?
Adam Johnston: The books do not pull punches. You’ve got bought canine packs, vicious badger fights, and some genuinely heavy character deaths. We knew we could not make a sanitized model of the forest, as a result of treating this universe with respect means honoring these precise stakes. At the similar time, we did not need gratuitous gore only for shock worth. Our objective was to match the emotional weight of the books moderately than flip it into a complete splatterfest. You’ll really feel the rigidity of fight, and your cat will choose up scars as they age, however the focus is on story and penalties of decisions. Get able to show you are warrior materials, not only a tender kittypet.
I additionally bought the likelihood to quiz just a few members of the Coolabi Group, a British media firm that has owned the rights to the Warrior franchise since 2012. Particularly, I bought to speak with Nick Cooke, Director of Product Improvement, in addition to Jordan Lengthy and Stephanie Lane Elliot from Coolabi’s Editorial crew.
IGN: The Warriors books are beloved by generations of followers. How does it really feel being honored with the job of bringing this world to life?
Jordan Lengthy: I’ve been studying the books since 2005, after I was only a child in elementary college and the Warrior Cats sequence solely had eight printed books to its title. Now there are lots of of books, graphic novel diversifications, a number of strains of merchandise, a tv sequence in improvement – and now the upcoming recreation. It has been completely unbelievable to be a component of creating this latest chapter in the Warrior Cats story. It appears like reaching again in time and gifting myself the recreation I all the time dreamed of as a baby, and I hope the gamers really feel the love that was put into this, as a gamer and as a lifelong fan of the books.
IGN: What was the most vital side from the books that you just felt you simply needed to get proper in the recreation?
Jordan Lengthy: One of the most vital issues we wished this recreation to do for followers was to essentially allow them to really feel that they weren’t simply taking part in a online game with a Warrior Cats emblem slapped onto it, however actually attending to play by a narrative that felt genuine to the world of Warrior Cats. Not simply the mechanics of looking and combating and designing their cat, however attending to have the expertise of residing in the world of the Clans, dealing with the kind of heavy future that many of the characters in the books have been offered with and having the alternative of how they wish to strategy it. We really feel that the 4 tales we’ve put collectively for the 4 Clans really feel genuine to the world of the books – tales of prophecies, hardship, braveness, and the bonds cast each inside and outdoors of your Clan that decide the type of warrior you grow to be.
Stephanie Lane Elliot: We wished to ensure the recreation gave a practical view of what it feels prefer to reside in the Clans, the weight of the decisions a warrior makes each day, and how these decisions can impression not solely their lives however the lives of all their Clanmates.
IGN: The Warriors books are recognized for being fairly brutal, regardless of their younger viewers. Was the inclusion of any blood and gore mentioned for this recreation? Why or why not?
Nick Cooke: We talked rather a lot about the best way to deliver battling into the gameplay in a manner that felt true to the Warrior Cats world, whereas additionally being applicable for a broad viewers. We have been very acutely aware of the sensitivity round violence, notably given the age vary of the books’ viewers, however we additionally wished the fight to really feel significant and participating.
The turn-based battle system provides gamers the alternative to essentially step into the position of a warrior. You may hunt prey, defend your self in opposition to predators, and combat alongside your Clan in opposition to rival Clans. We felt that focusing on technique, character talents, and the pleasure of the battle itself allowed us to seize that sense of hazard and journey with out relying on graphic blood or gore. By having multi-character battles, notably battles between Clans, can be a giant half of making the recreation really feel like the world of Warrior Cats. It provides gamers the likelihood to expertise these larger-scale conflicts and, in the end, really feel like they’re actually half of their Clan.
IGN: Followers appear to be equal elements cautious and excited for each the Clans of the Forest recreation and the upcoming animated sequence. Do you’ve got any phrases for the fanbase as to what they’ll anticipate from the franchise beneath Coolabi’s purview?
Nick Cooke: Warrior Cats will have fun its twenty fifth anniversary in 2028, and over these 25 years we have now strived to assist our extraordinary world fanbase who’ve made the world of Warrior Cats their very own. With greater than 90 million books bought and the Roblox recreation quickly approaching one billion performs, it’s clear that the urge for food for this world is stronger than ever — and there may be nonetheless much more to come back.
Our ambition is to proceed increasing the methods followers can expertise and take part in the world of Warrior Cats, whereas all the time respecting what has made the franchise so particular to them. Forward of the animated sequence which is slated to premiere in 2028, we’ll be launching a quantity of digital and social media packages with a spread of content material, designed to present followers new methods to have interaction with the characters, tales and wider world. These will sit alongside our continued funding in publishing and our increasing client merchandise programme, serving to us construct a broader digital presence for the franchise.
We additionally recognise that the Warrior Cats neighborhood has been creating, imagining and increasing this world for years. Emmy Award-winning director Rodrigo Blaas, who’s directing the animated sequence, spoke just lately about the unbelievable creativity of the followers and the duty that comes with bringing the books to animation:
“Folks and followers have been animating these books on their very own time, of their bedrooms, at their desks, as a result of they weren’t going to attend for someone to make it official. Many of these works are stunning. We’ve watched rather a lot of it. That is the first time these books are formally turning into an animated sequence. So we all know we aren’t the first individuals who tried to deliver this world to animated life. We’re simply the first ones who get to do it at this scale, and we don’t take that calmly.” This actually captures how we really feel about the future of Warrior Cats. We all know we’re constructing on one thing that already means an enormous quantity to tens of millions of folks. The objective shouldn’t be merely to make extra Warrior Cats content material, however to create new experiences that give present followers one thing to be enthusiastic about whereas welcoming a brand new era into the Clans.
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s Information Editor. With ten years of expertise reporting on video games and leisure, she’s bought a storied background in the combating recreation neighborhood, influencer information, and viral on-line traits. Discover her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.