Barkour News

[p]When people think about animation in games, they usually picture humanoid characters.
Two legs, familiar rigs, tons of references from other titles.

Barkour didn’t give us that luxury. The moment we decided our main character would be a dog, we knew animation was going to be one of the toughest challenges of the project.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p] [/p][h3]There Aren’t Many References for This[/h3][p]
One of the first problems was surprisingly simple: there just aren’t many good references for animating a playable dog in an action game.

Animals in games are usually NPCs, scripted sequences, or background flavor. In Barkour, the dog isn’t decoration - the dog is the player. That means fast movement, full control, parkour, combat, stealth… all driven by animation.

We couldn’t just copy solutions from other games. For many animations, we had to start almost from scratch. When references were missing, we leaned on two things:
[/p]

• [p] our own imagination,[/p]
• [p]observation of our own dog friends, [/p]
• [p] and recordings of real dogs - including K-9 units.
  [/p]

[p]Watching real dogs accelerate, stop, change direction, react, and carry their weight became a core part of our process.

[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]
[/p][h3]Gameplay First… But Still a Dog[/h3][p]
Another big challenge was balancing several goals at once. Animations in Barkour had to:
[/p]

• [p] trigger reliably during gameplay,[/p]
• [p] stay clear and readable at high speed,[/p]
• [p] work smoothly with game systems,[/p]
• [p] support the comedic tone,[/p]
• [p] and still feel properly dog-like.
  [/p]

[p]Fast parkour demands precision and responsiveness. Comedy needs exaggeration and timing. Authentic dog movement needs weight, posture, and flow. Push any of these too far, and the whole thing falls apart. [/p][p][/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][h3]Comedy Wasn’t Optional[/h3][p][/p][p]Barkour lives in a spy-comedy world, so animation couldn’t be purely realistic. The dog needed personality. That meant expressive poses, slightly exaggerated reactions, and movements that support visual jokes - without turning the character into a cartoon blob that breaks immersion during gameplay. Finding that balance took a lot of iteration and testing.[/p][p] [/p][h3]Teamwork Made It Possible[/h3][p]
This wasn’t something the Animation team could solve alone.
Animators worked closely with:
[/p]

• [p] Designers, who defined gameplay needs and requirements,[/p]
• [p] Programmers, who handled technical constraints and animation systems.
  [/p]

[p]The back-and-forth was constant. An animation could look great in isolation but still fail during fast movement or combat. When that happened, it went back for adjustments - sometimes more than once.[/p][p]
[/p][h3]Test, Feedback, Repeat:[/h3][p]Animations were tested regularly by the whole team directly in the game. Seeing them in real gameplay conditions often revealed issues that weren’t visible before. That feedback loop helped us fine-tune timing, transitions, and overall feel until everything clicked.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The result:[/p]

• [p] the dog feels responsive and readable,[/p]
• [p] movement supports speed, momentum, and parkour,[/p]
• [p] animations reinforce personality,[/p]
• [p] and comedy comes through without sacrificing control.
  [/p]

[p]Animating a dog in Barkour was never just about making things look good. It was about making sure you genuinely feel like you’re controlling a Dog Agent, not a human character with a different model.

And yeah - it was harder than we expected. But it was absolutely worth it!

[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p]

[h3]ADD TO WISHLIST NOW AND STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE NEWS[/h3]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1920290/Barkour/

Please note that all visuals shown here come from early development or concept stages. Barkour is still evolving, and the current build may look different.

Thanks for reading and hanging out with us. We’re really glad you’re here.
See you in the next devlog, Agents

One of the first questions people ask us about Barkour is pretty straightforward:
“Okay, but… why a dog?”

Fair question. The short answer? Because we like doing things from a different angle.
The longer answer is a bit more interesting.

[h3]We’ve Always Liked Weird Perspectives[/h3]

We’ve never really been into making games where you’re just another guy with a gun.
Our first game, Bee Simulator, already leaned into the idea of seeing the world from a totally different perspective. So when we started thinking about our next project, we naturally drifted toward another non-standard protagonist.

At some point, we started messing around with a dog.

Nothing fancy at first - just rough prototypes. Basic movement, simple levels, checking how it feels to run around the world on four legs. But very quickly, we realized something important: the dog wasn’t just fun to play - it was changing how we designed everything else.

That’s usually a good sign.



[h3]Once You Pick a Dog, the Game Changes[/h3]

Choosing a dog immediately forced us to rethink a lot of things. A dog isn’t just a smaller human - it moves differently, fits into different spaces, and interacts with the world in its own way.

Suddenly, level design started looking different. Tight spaces made sense. Ventilation shafts became natural paths. Sneaking around guards felt more believable. Movement became faster, closer to the ground, more fluid.

That’s where Barkour really came from. Not as a buzzword, but as a direct result of asking: “What would movement feel like if you were actually playing as a dog?”

It became clear pretty fast that Barkour wasn’t going to be a side feature.
It was going to be the core of the game.



[h3]A Spy Comedy… With a Dog[/h3]

From the start, Barkour was meant to be a spy comedy. Light tone, some absurdity, but still enough tension to make sneaking around and getting spotted feel meaningful.

Putting a dog into that world just worked. It let us lean into humor without turning the game into a pure joke, and at the same time it didn’t stop us from having more serious moments when we needed them. The semi-stylized art style helped a lot here - it gave us room to shift moods without things feeling out of place.



[h3]Play How You Want[/h3]

Another thing that mattered a lot to us was not forcing players into a single “correct” playstyle. We wanted Barkour to support different approaches - sneaky, fast, messy, or somewhere in between.

The dog as a character naturally supports that. Its speed, size, and movement options encourage experimentation. Instead of asking “what does the game want me to do here?”, we want players to think “what do I feel like doing?”

If it works and it’s fun, that’s good enough for us.

So Yeah. That’s Why a Dog.

At the end of the day, choosing a dog wasn’t just about looks or jokes. It affected:

• how the game moves,
  
• how levels are built,
  
• how stealth feels,
  
• and the overall tone of Barkour.
  

The dog isn’t a skin, and it’s definitely not a gimmick.
It’s the reason Barkour exists in the form it does.

And honestly? We wouldn’t have it any other way.



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1920290/Barkour/

Please note that all visuals shown here come from early development or concept stages. Barkour is still evolving, and the current build may look different.


Thanks for reading and hanging out with us. We’re really glad you’re here.

If you like what you see and haven’t done it yet — don’t forget to add Barkour to your wishlist and hit follow so you don’t miss the next updates.

See you in the next devlog, Agents

[p]🎙️ CALLING ALL VOICE ACTORS - LAST 2 DAYS![/p][p]With all the recent discussions around AI in games, we decided to do something… very simple.[/p][p]Our AI character gets a REAL HUMAN VOICE.[/p][p]We’re officially running a public voice casting for A.L.F.-RED - the AI companion who guides Agent THUNDER throughout BARKOUR.[/p][p]Some of you may remember our open casting for THUNDER himself. The response was incredible, and it proved one thing very clearly: great characters deserve great human voice![/p][p]So yes - while the obvious choice might be to generate an AI voice with AI, that’s not what we believe in.
We believe that all characters (even AI ones) should be written, designed, and performed by real people.[/p][p][/p][p]⏰ Casting closes on January 5th
(This is the final call!)[/p][p]👉 All details & audition guidelines: [/p][p]https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uWtYkGfF62NdkiCl3WQNOjKpMdPxENtNZHSbOH2VGNk/edit?usp=sharing[/p][p][/p][p]🐾 Pictured: THUNDER politely asking you to send your best auditions for his favorite digital buddy.[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you for all the support, wishlists, and amazing energy around BARKOUR lately - it truly means a lot to our team! ❤️[/p]

[p]On January 6th, we will be temporarily removing the public demo of BARKOUR from Steam.[/p][p][/p][p]The current demo no longer represents the actual state of the game’s development and may even be slightly misleading when compared to where the project is today. Over the past months, the main build has moved forward significantly, and keeping the demo in sync became increasingly difficult.[/p][p]As a small team working on a fairly ambitious project, we had to make a clear choice:[/p]

• [p]either split our focus between maintaining the demo and developing the game, risking further delays[/p]
• [p]or fully prioritize the core game and push its development forward as efficiently as possible[/p]

[p]We chose to focus 100% on the game itself - to deliver BARKOUR as soon as possible and in the most polished state we can.[/p][p][/p][h3]The good news[/h3][p]The demo will return during the February Steam Next Festival.[/p][p]When it does, our goal is to:[/p]

• [p]bring as many improvements as possible from the main game build into the demo[/p]
• [p]include updated gameplay, polish, and fixes[/p]
• [p]and of course… support full voiceovers recorded by real voice actors! [/p]

[p]Thank you for your understanding, patience, and continued support.
[/p][p]We’ll keep you updated as we get closer to the festival![/p][p][/p][p]—
VARSAV Game Studios - BARKOUR Team[/p]

[p]We’re excited to finally share some big news from behind the scenes of BARKOUR.[/p][p]After an open casting that brought us over 300 voice acting auditions from around the world, we’re proud to announce that Agent THUNDER officially has his voice - performed by Gordon Williams.[/p][p]Because we value transparency, here’s how the process looked.[/p][p]From those 300+ submissions, we shortlisted 100 auditions, each carefully reviewed by three team members - two from our audio department and our narrative designer. Every performance was evaluated across 13 different criteria, including diction, vocal range, emotional delivery, personality, and yes… even a convincing “dog breath.” 🐾[/p][p]From there, 10 finalists made it into the final round.[/p][p]Gordon stood out thanks to his remarkable versatility, strong character presence, and an ability to balance confidence, charm, and humor - exactly what we were looking for in a canine secret agent. We’ve already completed our first recording sessions, and hearing THUNDER come to life for the first time has been an incredible moment for the whole team.[/p][p]This is an important milestone for BARKOUR - but it’s not the last one.
We’ll be sharing more behind-the-scenes updates soon… and yes, there’s more casting to come. 👀[/p][p]Stay tuned... and give a warm round of paws to the voice of Agent THUNDER! 🐾🎮[/p][p][/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]