Goat Simulator devs reflect on how they “accidentally ragdolled into gaming history” with the rise of meme games, and they’re not done “milking goat sim” for all its worth

Coffee Stain Studios’ original Goat Simulator is now 11 years old. The average lifespan of a goat is around 15-18 years. Since the release of the original sandbox game over a decade ago, there’s been hundreds, if not thousands, of clone meme games attempting to capture the same lightning-in-a-bottle moment as Goat Sim, but most have failed.

Speaking to VideoGamer, multiple developers at Coffee Stain North can barely believe its been over a decade since the release of the original game. However, while the screaming goat meme has been pummelled into a fine dust by Hollywood, the studio believes there’s still life in strapping jetpacks to an animal and decimating a local city with its horns.

“Honestly? It feels like we accidentally ragdolled our way into gaming history,” explained Coffee Stain North CEO Sebastian Eriksson. “What started as a joke, a bug-filled, physics-defying goat rampage, somehow became a decade-long saga of chaos, memes, and surprisingly deep lore. We’ve gone from licking random objects to launching into space, infiltrating zombie apocalypses, and getting our very own multiverse.”

Eriksson explained that the studio as a whole feels “grateful” and “confused” at just how big the game series has become. Just last year, the studio released Goat Simulator Remastered which brought back the original game for PS4, PC and Xbox Series, and it was once again a confusingly popular sandbox game.

“Sometimes I have to pinch myself when I think that I’ve worked on Goat Simulator for 11 years,” explained creative director Santiago Ferrero. “It’s pretty wild that a game as stupid as Goat Simulator can have that much staying power, which says a lot, and one can only be grateful.”

But what about the still-undying wave of clone games that have been released into the world? What started as an April Fool’s joke quickly became a phenomenon, taking over the Middle Ages of YouTube with every popular content creator jumping on the board, and then rapidly hopping onto the most broken newcomer for a fresh round of clicks.

“We didn’t plan for it,” Eriksson explained. “We just released a buggy goat game and accidentally started a genre. Seeing all the clones out there is kind of like watching your goat children grow up and try to headbutt the world on their own. Some are charming. Some are weird. Some are… well, let’s just say they make Goat Simulator look like a polished AAA experience.”

“We broke the rules (and the game), and in doing so, we gave players permission to just have fun,” Eriksson continued. “No fail states. No real skill required (okay, maybe a little). Just pure, unfiltered nonsense. And somehow, that nonsense inspired a wave of creativity across the industry.”

Eriksson explained that “the chaos we unleashed has inspired a whole ecosystem of wonderfully broken games”, but the sheer number of clones and how fast they spun up was a shock. “The surprising part is the rate they were created in, that’s when you know you really have unleashed something special to the world,” said tech director Philip Lindau.

Ferrero explained that there’s “a lot of creative freedom, both content wise but also marketing wise” for the Goat Sim brand. Despite 11 years, the ideas keep flowing, and while we weren’t told specifically what said plans are, there’s something cooking behind the scenes with Eriksson teasing the team is “ready for whatever the goat does next” and Ferrerro explained that they haven’t “finished milking Goat Sim” yet.

“As long as there are things to lick, bugs to embrace, and physics engines to break, there’s life in Goat Simulator,” Eriksson said. “We’re not done until we’ve simulated every possible goat scenario: Goats under the sea? Maybe. Goat in a noir detective thriller? Why not. Goat running for President? Sh*t, we already did that one.”

Honestly, I’m not a huge Goat Simulator guy, but Coffee Stain Studios’ mark on the games industry is one for the history books. It’s not unfair to say Goat Simulator is a better art statement than a lot of AAA games that get released, and the fanbase loves it. There’s something cook out there at Coffee Stain, and it reeks of goat.