Good day Kitty Island Journey consistently seems among the many prime Apple Arcade video games, and the Change and PC variations invited new gamers to the island resort alongside iconic mascots in 2025. To not point out PlayStation variations are on the horizon. To search out out extra about what went into making the sport and what’s subsequent, game-feeds spoke with Sunblink Chief Product Officer Chelsea Howe concerning the title.
Jenni Lada, game-feeds: When did work on the opposite variations of Good day Kitty Island Journey start?
Chelsea Howe, Sunblink: We knew we wished to cowl a broad vary of type elements from the beginning, so multiplatform was at all times current behind our minds. Plus, many elements of our Apple Arcade improvement, like optimizing for lower-spec gadgets, translated throughout all platforms. We labored with different groups with extra particular platform data to do the ultimate improvement, which began in early 2024.
What kinds of challenges did the workforce face when making ready the Good day Kitty Island Journey Change, PlayStation, and PC ports whereas additionally including new content material to the Apple Arcade model of the sport?
Howe: The most important problem had positively been holding timelines organized. Every platform has its personal course of for approvals, certifications, verifications, patches, and so forth. The entire workforce has gone a bit cross-eyed back-tracking the entire dates based mostly on every platform’s estimated occasions.
Apart from that, it was a matter of nailing the platform’s distinctive qualities: like getting controller enter feeling rock strong for Nintendo Change or getting Steam Deck Verified for PC.
How will future improvement and updates for Good day Kitty Island Journey work, contemplating there are seasonal occasions and also you added extra characters and areas up to now?
Howe: All platforms ought to get the identical occasion content material on the similar time. We’ll be releasing free content material updates prior to imminent occasions to make sure that everyone seems to be experiencing the story and rewards collectively. Characters and areas require extra QA, and whereas we launch storylines little by little on Apple Arcade, we’re cognizant of the distinction in Nintendo Change and PC audiences and want to launch issues extra holistically there. That, along with the aforementioned timeline variations, means the replace cadence exterior of occasions is more likely to be staggered between platforms.
When including extra Good day Kitty Island Journey characters, how did you choose which of them could be represented and the way they are going to seem?
Howe: There are two major sources of precedence: Sanrio and Sanrio followers! Sanrio has characters they like to highlight, however we additionally need to allow followers to befriend their favourite characters within the recreation.
The latter means paying a whole lot of consideration to the annual Sanrio rankings. It’s additionally an awesome excuse to peruse official merchandise and see what of us are most enthusiastic about. My Cinnamoroll plushie assortment speaks for itself.
What led to Usahana being picked because the Metropolis City consultant in Good day Kitty Island Journey?
Howe: As extra of Metropolis City’s story comes out, the massive cause will likely be revealed. For now, let’s simply say that she was designed to deliver pleasure, colour, and happiness to workplace employees, so we took that to a fair greater excessive and made an entire metropolis based mostly round her vibrant feel and look.
The entire design of Metropolis City was based mostly on flipping the standard grungy, soiled, busy metropolis trope on its head and having one thing colourful, clear, optimistic and reflective of Usahana’s coronary heart and spirit.
Massive Challenges is probably the most obscure Good day Kitty Island Journey character to date. Who else would you additionally like so as to add to the sport? Do characters like Spottie Dottie or Kirimichan have an opportunity of showing?
Howe: They suuuuuuuuuuure do!
We’ve such a particular place in our hearts for the expectation-defying characters like Kirimichan, Recent Punch, or Nisetama-san. Nisetama-san is a buddy of gudetama – a person actually dressed up as an egg yolk who dances all over the world. We have been capable of highlight him throughout Month of Meh final 12 months and sit up for bringing different extra area of interest characters to the sport in related ways in which showcase their uniqueness.
May we additionally see extra unorthodox or crossover characters break in as Good day Kitty Island Journey guests? For instance, maybe somebody like Yoshikitty or members from Present by Rock?
Howe: In the mean time, the purple tape and licensing complexity imply we’re unable so as to add “collab” characters, as we name them. We’ve a ton of parents at our workplace who love Yoshikitty, or Adorozatorumary. My favourite is Gaopoweroo! However alas, it’s merely to not be.
Maybe if we’re profitable sufficient, the collab companions will come to us asking for inclusion. We will dream, proper?
What did you study as a developer by engaged on Good day Kitty Island Journey over the previous few years?
Howe: All of us realized approach, far more concerning the world of Good day Kitty than we ever knew existed. Most of us have been aware of Good day Kitty, it’s arduous to not be, however the amount of Sanrio characters and a long time of lore was unbelievable. Whether or not it was these area of interest characters like Massive Challenges or the truth that Good day Kitty will not be a cat, there was at all times one thing to shock us.
From a recreation perspective, we’ve realized loads about mixing the comfortable style with the open world journey style. They’ve an enormous overlap in viewers, however some issues rub the improper approach. Some cozy gamers need nothing to do with multiplayer, whereas some open-world gamers recoil at any time when now we have customization-based questing. General, we expect we introduced one thing new to each teams.
In a super state of affairs with no restrictions, what kind of biome or extra function would you want so as to add to Good day Kitty Island Journey?
Howe: HOW CAN I PICK JUST ONE?! I’d love a rainforest or jungle space that leaned extra closely into the puzzle caves – or a far future world that did related. I’ve additionally at all times wished an aspen forest, simply because Sunblink is headquartered in Boulder, CO, and people forests—particularly with their yellow leaves—are iconic. We additionally created a personality named TOPHAT for the sport, and I’ve at all times puzzled what a world in his picture could be like.
How lengthy do you suppose you’ll maintain updating and including new content material to Good day Kitty Island Journey?
Howe: Whereas now we have a roadmap that extends years forward, it actually relies on if of us are persevering with to play the sport! So long as now we have an viewers, it simply is smart for us to proceed constructing out the world and enriching the mechanics.
Good day Kitty Island Journey is out there on the Nintendo Change, PC, and Apple Arcade. It’s going to additionally come to the PS4 and PS5.
