Erin Hunter’s Warrior Cats franchise is lastly getting an officially licensed video game coming to all main platforms this fall. We obtained to talk with one of many builders behind the turn-based title, who opened up in regards to the staff’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 imagine it after I obtained the possibility to quiz the builders at Bamtang Video games and the oldsters at Coolabi Group about Clans of the Forest, the upcoming turn-based role-playing sport primarily based on the 4 authentic clans of the Warriors ebook 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 best way, let’s take a dive into my dialog with Adam Johnston, Artistic Director at Bamtang Video games, who assured me that his staff is doing all the pieces they’ll to remain true the the books’ lore — even to the purpose 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 duty of bringing this world to life?
Adam Johnston: Trying on the sheer scale of the world Erin Hunter constructed was a bit of intimidating at first. When you understand simply what number of books, characters, and Clan dynamics exist, you perceive the scale of the mountain you are climbing. However as quickly as our staff jumped into the tales, that intimidation changed into pleasure. We fell in love with the lore. Bringing it to life grew to become a dream undertaking for us. To ensure we get each element proper, we’ve had devoted tremendous followers working alongside us all through growth. They preserve us trustworthy and ensure we do not by chance violate any sacred Clan traditions alongside the best way. Having their suggestions paired with our staff’s vitality has been superb. Our aim has been to craft one thing deeply genuine for readers who grew up with the sequence, whereas making it simply as partaking for somebody discovering Warriors for the primary time. It is an enormous duty, however we could not ask for a greater world to construct. If we’ve got by chance tousled the etiquette of a Gathering, we absolutely anticipate StarClan to strike us down.
IGN: Inform me a bit of bit in regards to the manufacturing course of for Clans of the Forest. Why a turn-based RPG? Was any inspiration taken from the Roblox sport?
Adam Johnston: While you have a look at fight within the books, it is not simply cats slashing wildly at one another. It’s about stealth, positioning, and dealing as a staff. A turn-based RPG made probably the most sense as a result of it forces you to assume strategically as a substitute of simply mashing buttons. It additionally allow us to construct correct staff battles and offers us a strong framework to make fights towards badgers, foxes, or rival patrols truly work mechanically. Designing RPG fight for cats meant ditching customary spells. As an alternative, depth comes from shifting fight Stances. Each transfer you make alters your stance mid-fight, turning battles right into a tactical sport 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 needed to roleplay on this world. We’re constructing a structured RPG relatively than an open sandbox, however seeing their success gave us lots of confidence that the urge for food was undoubtedly there.
IGN: Why did you make the selection to let gamers create their very own cat, relatively than play by means of the story as one of many established cats within the sequence?
Adam Johnston: If you happen to ask nearly any Warriors fan, the very first thing they did after studying the books was determine what their very own warrior identify could be and which Clan they belonged to. Self-expression is a big a part of why individuals fall in love with this universe within the first place. If we compelled you to play as Firestar or one other established character, you’d simply be working by means of a narrative the place you already know the way all the pieces seems. Letting gamers create their very own cat utterly modifications the sport. It offers you unimaginable replayability, as a result of each new cat you make comes with a special Clan, look, stat setup, and persona. Over time, you are not simply taking part in a single marketing campaign. You are constructing your personal private legacy throughout the forest, populating the world with your personal net of tales, rivalries, and characters throughout a number of playthroughs.
IGN: How essential was cat customization to you? (As a child who completely designed their very own Warrior Cat OC, imagine me, I get the enchantment. Haha!)
Adam Johnston: Everybody who learn these books had a pocket book someplace crammed with their very own customized cat designs. We knew if we did not give gamers deep customization, we would be lacking your entire level of creating a Warriors sport. We needed to ensure you might customise preliminary visuals like pelt patterns and eye colours, but in addition see your cat change as they become old. Your cat will begin out as a cute apprentice and ultimately find yourself wanting like a grizzled veteran who has seen method too many badgers. On prime of that, we tied id straight into mechanics. Your Clan, stage, and coaching form your base stats, whereas the alternatives you make alongside your journey decide the strikes you be taught. That method, your cat truly grows up and lives a special story within 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 within the warrior ranks as a result of each Clan wants a transparent chief to face the prophecy, and we needed the participant to be that hero. Whereas being a Medication Cat is a fantasy for lots of followers, their responsibility within the lore is therapeutic and religious steerage, not tactical dueling or Clan management. The emotional climax throughout all 4 Sagas depends on you standing on the head of your Clan throughout its most harmful hour. To provide gamers a Hero’s Journey, we needed your decisions to straight have an effect on Clan politics and management. That mentioned, Medication Cats nonetheless play an essential position in your journey. They’re central to the story, religious steerage, and survival of your Clan, even in case you aren’t the one shelling out catmint your self.
IGN: The Warriors books are identified for being fairly brutal, regardless of their younger viewers. Was the inclusion of any blood and gore mentioned for this sport?
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 exhibiting blood, it was about honoring the resilience of a warrior. We designed stylized visible scars that really feel earned after powerful encounters, avoiding something graphic or scary. Giving gamers a toggle to show these scars on or off within 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 essential fights.
IGN: Is any DLC deliberate after the sport’s launch?
Adam Johnston: Proper now, we’re targeted on the launch of the sport. Any updates or plans for extra content material can be addressed later.
IGN: And at last, do you could have a message to the followers about what they’ll anticipate from Clans of the Forest?
Adam Johnston: The books do not pull punches. You have obtained canine packs, vicious badger fights, and a few 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. On the identical time, we did not need gratuitous gore only for shock worth. Our aim was to match the emotional weight of the books relatively than flip it into a complete splatterfest. You’ll really feel the stress 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 mushy kittypet.
I additionally obtained the possibility to quiz a number of members of the Coolabi Group, a British media firm that has owned the rights to the Warrior franchise since 2012. Particularly, I obtained to talk with Nick Cooke, Director of Product Growth, in addition to Jordan Lengthy and Stephanie Lane Elliot from Coolabi’s Editorial staff.
IGN: The Warriors books are beloved by generations of followers. How does it really feel being honored with the duty of bringing this world to life?
Jordan Lengthy: I’ve been studying the books since 2005, after I was only a child in elementary faculty and the Warrior Cats sequence solely had eight revealed books to its identify. Now there are a whole lot of books, graphic novel diversifications, a number of traces of merchandise, a tv sequence in growth – and now the upcoming sport. It has been completely unimaginable to be part of creating this latest chapter within the Warrior Cats story. It appears like reaching again in time and gifting myself the sport I all the time dreamed of as a toddler, 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 crucial facet from the books that you simply felt you simply needed to get proper within the sport?
Jordan Lengthy: Some of the essential issues we needed this sport to do for followers was to actually allow them to really feel that they weren’t simply taking part in a online game with a Warrior Cats brand slapped onto it, however really attending to play by means of a narrative that felt genuine to the world of Warrior Cats. Not simply the mechanics of looking and preventing and designing their cat, however attending to have the expertise of residing on the earth of the Clans, dealing with the form of heavy future that most of the characters within the books have been offered with and having the selection of how they wish to method 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 solid each inside and outdoors of your Clan that decide the sort of warrior you turn into.
Stephanie Lane Elliot: We needed to ensure the sport gave a practical view of what it feels prefer to stay within the Clans, the burden of the alternatives a warrior makes each day, and the way these decisions can influence not solely their lives however the lives of all their Clanmates.
IGN: The Warriors books are identified for being fairly brutal, regardless of their younger viewers. Was the inclusion of any blood and gore mentioned for this sport? Why or why not?
Nick Cooke: We talked so much about the right way to convey battling into the gameplay in a method that felt true to the Warrior Cats world, whereas additionally being applicable for a broad viewers. We had been very acutely aware of the sensitivity round violence, notably given the age vary of the books’ viewers, however we additionally needed the fight to really feel significant and fascinating.
The turn-based battle system offers gamers the chance to actually step into the position of a warrior. You’ll be able to hunt prey, defend your self towards predators, and struggle alongside your Clan towards rival Clans. We felt that specializing in technique, character talents, and the thrill of the battle itself allowed us to seize that sense of hazard and journey with out counting on graphic blood or gore. By having multi-character battles, notably battles between Clans, can be a giant a part of making the sport really feel just like the world of Warrior Cats. It offers gamers the possibility to expertise these larger-scale conflicts and, finally, really feel like they’re really a part of their Clan.
IGN: Followers appear to be equal components cautious and excited for each the Clans of the Forest sport and the upcoming animated sequence. Do you could have any phrases for the fanbase as to what they’ll anticipate from the franchise beneath Coolabi’s purview?
Nick Cooke: Warrior Cats will rejoice its twenty fifth anniversary in 2028, and over these 25 years we’ve got 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 sport quickly approaching one billion performs, it’s clear that the urge for food for this world is stronger than ever — and there’s nonetheless much more to return.
Our ambition is to proceed increasing the methods followers can expertise and take part on the earth 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 various digital and social media applications with quite a lot of content material, designed to offer 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 shopper 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 lately in regards to the unimaginable 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. A lot of these works are stunning. We’ve got watched lots of it. That is the primary time these books are formally turning into an animated sequence. So we all know we’re not the primary individuals who tried to convey this world to animated life. We’re simply the primary ones who get to do it at this scale, and we don’t take that flippantly.” This actually captures how we really feel about the way forward for Warrior Cats. We all know we’re constructing on one thing that already means an enormous quantity to hundreds of thousands of individuals. The aim isn’t merely to make extra Warrior Cats content material, however to create new experiences that give current 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 obtained a storied background within the preventing sport neighborhood, influencer information, and viral on-line developments. Discover her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.