Joy Way, the studio behind STRIDE: Fates (2023) and EXOcars (2024), initially announced VR action-platformer Red Flowers back in 2022, which was slated to bring bloody ninja-slicing action along with some high-flying parkour. Now, the studio revealed Red Flowers is making a major pivot to ostensibly appeal to younger users.
Now called Catana: Red Flowers, the game has done away with the the impossibly high city buildings and gritty aesthetic, instead offering up a decidedly more family-friendly vibe, replete with a kitty protagonist and wise (and accident prone) Grandpa Kenji to help you along the way.
Targeting a 2025 release on Quest and PSVR 2, Catana: Red Flowers lets you take on the role of a nimble ninja cat, letting you dash through enemies, deflect bullets, swing around, and wield a katana. Between levels, the game also offers up a cozy garden where you can sharpen your blade, play with Grandpa Kenji, “or just be a silly cat,” the studio says.
From the trailer, there’s still a good slice of bloody katana deaths, although Joy Way notes this can be toggled off in the settings, replacing it with a burst of flowers. While movement mechanics and enemies aren’t entirely a far cry from the 2022 demo (seen below), the art and level design marks a clear departure from the grittiness of the original.
Joy Way says that although its demo of Red Flowers garnered over 500k installs following its release on Quest’s now-defunct App Lab, “extensive player interviews and […] valuable feedback” led the studio to “fully reimagine and evolve the concept.”
While the studio hasn’t said as much, the pivot comes amid a wider shift in the Quest player base, principally driven by the entrance of Quest 3S, Meta’s latest $300 mixed reality headset.
Meta noted in early 2025 that a wave of younger players was not only boosting free-to-play content on the platform, but also paid premium content, which Meta noted at the time included games like I AM CAT (2024) and Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 (2024).
There’s no release date for Catana: Red Flowers yet beyond “later this year,” although you can now wishlist the game on the Horizon Store for Quest 2 and above, and on the PlayStation Store for PSVR 2.
