Vancouver’s Seeking Blue Records hits gamers with a banger

There were a few things about Seeking Blue Records’ recent venture that caught our attention. In a seemingly random turn of events, the Vancouver record label launched a video game called Sheepy: A Short Adventure in the first week of February. And while the narrative in the game would be enough to draw us in (a plushie comes to life in an abandoned underground company), we were even more intrigued by the story behind the pivot itself. 

“It was not as much of a strategic decision as you’d think,” says Seeking Blue brand director Lucas James. “It was truly a passion project. We knew if we made it for us and we liked it, there was a very good chance the fans would too.” 

Seeking Blue was spun out of a indie/electronic music YouTube channel called MrSuicideSheep. The man behind it goes by the pseudonym Sheepy, and the advance into gaming was inspired by the fact that the Seeking Blue team (along with its community of fans and artists) is very much composed of gamers. So it wasn’t exactly unfamiliar territory to explore. Plus, game and music production actually have some things in common. 

“The game takes about 45 minutes to complete and an album is traditionally 45 minutes listening length,” James explains. “So we knew that the ups and downs of a record would be very similar to the experience of playing the game.”

Within a week of its launch, Sheepy became #1 on gaming platform Steam. After three years in the making, it hit several key chords with the intended audience: the game is short, free and (unsurprisingly) boasts a killer soundtrack. Team members like James (who has been with the company for 10 years and composed film scores in the past) as well as Rob Thomas (who produced Sheepy and has experience developing mobile games) played important roles in getting the game online. 

“Because we’re a music company, the music mattered a lot,” says James. The team worked with artists on the MrSuicideSheep channel to help carry its sound forward and create what James calls a dynamic experience. “If you play slower than I do, it has to match you just as much as it matches me. So creating dynamic music that unfolds with the player was paramount to us. And then we also want it to be emotional—and based on people streaming it on Twitch and stuff, I have seen tears.” 

With over 12 million subscribers and seven billion views on YouTube, there’s no doubt that MrSuicideSheep is popular. And now Sheepy is, too: in its first week, the game was added to 225,000 peoples’ libraries. “We were all very surprised,” says James. “But there’s just so much heart put into the game that it’s hard to deny.”