Twitter tells me that August 26 is International Dog Day, and I don’t care whether that’s a made-up holiday or not – it’s an excuse to spend the work day looking at dog pictures so it’s now my favourite occasion on the calendar. Luckily, several game developers have been happy to oblige today with pictures and the occasional video of numerous adorable canines.
Since we’re on the eve of Control’s release, maybe we should start with a reminder of Uuno the mocap dog, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier who got his fifteen minutes of fame when Remedy posted a video of him in a mocap suit. Now, he’s on an ad at the metro stop just outside the studio to thank the team for their efforts. That’s a good boy!
Similarly, Ubisoft Montreal shared a new video of a Golden Retriever and a German Shepherd in their own mocap suits, though we don’t know what project these pups are in for. Maybe Watch Dogs Legion is reversing its no dogs policy after all? We can only hope – but as long as the animation work from these pups ends up somewhere, it’s all good.
But Bethesda and Bungie are the real heroes of the day, unleashing a horde of fuzzy companions from each studio’s developers.
Meet some of our pups!
Happy #InternationalDogDay! 🐶 pic.twitter.com/Y8umTnsBcC
— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) August 26, 2019
Last but not least… 🐕 pic.twitter.com/f9tMu5VY1w
— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) August 26, 2019
Bungie went the extra mile with individual introductions for each doggy. That does mean there are probably too many tweets to post here, and I hate to play favourites, so you should probably just follow the full thread.
Happy #InternationalDogDay, Guardians.
We'll be sharing pics of our #BungieDogs all day long in this highly requested thread. Feel free to share your own as well. pic.twitter.com/4nHGSwfYaW
— Bungie (@Bungie) August 26, 2019
Okay, I lied, I love to play favourites because just look at Titan and Dark!
This is Dark. He is light. Despite being 16 years old, he is still considered a world champion in the world of Dog Bed Gymnastics. #BungieDogs pic.twitter.com/tT4UcYdM3m
— Bungie (@Bungie) August 26, 2019
Or Pearl, Axton, and Norrin!
Axton and Norrin. They’re 5 and 4 respectively, and they both love to chase tennis balls and wrestle each other. They’re both Border Collie mixes so they’re too smart for their own good! #BungieDogs pic.twitter.com/KrQgUGq7AC
— Bungie (@Bungie) August 26, 2019
Just follow the full thread, I couldn’t live with myself if any good boys and girls got left out.
Can You Pet the Dog, of course, is still on normal operations today, so if your need for game-related canines is as-yet-unsated, you can find plenty more.