Platypus was originally developed by Squashy Software and was published by Idigicon for Windows computers in 2002 on CD-ROM. It was initially designed by the New Zealand game developer Anthony Flack and proved to be a particularly traumatic development for its creator, due to a fire that burned down his house, destroying everything he owned (including his computers, his camera equipment, and his entire stock of plasticine).
According to Flack, in an old blog post on Squashy Software's website, the "only relief" that came out of this terrible situation was the fact that he had managed to back up the game's files to a CD a few days earlier to show his friend what he was working on. If not for that, Platypus "would probably not exist today".
In the wake of this success, Idigicon ended up licensing the rights to more companies to bring it to a range of platforms, including the PSP and Xbox 360. It also created a sequel Platypus II in 2007 though this was made without Flack's involvement.
Both Platypus and Platypus II have been available on Steam for several years now, but back in 2019, Claymatic Games (Flack's new workplace) acquired the rights to the series and announced that it was planning an enhanced version of the original once its work on Clodhoppers was further down the line. Now it seems that is finally about to happen, with the developer revealing the project earlier this month on social media under the new title Platypus Reclayed.
According to Claymatic Games, Platypus Reclayed "isn't just a simple remaster", but "a complete revamp". The developer states that it has been reprogrammed entirely from scratch and will feature all-new artwork in 4K widescreen, as well as new content (such as additional weapons and features that are still yet to be announced). We've reached out to Claymatic Games to find out more about the release and will update this article once we hear back from them.
