MOUSE: P.I. For Hire Post-Launch Interview – Art Direction, Player Response, Detective Gameplay, and More

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The game MOUSE: P.I. For Hire launched on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch in April and has quickly become a critical and commercial hit. Having already earned back its development costs last month, the team is now looking ahead. We recently had the chance to ask members of the development team about the future of the game. Here are responses from studio founder and CEO Mateusz Michalak, art director and lead animator Michał Rostek, narrative designer Joachim Snoch, level designer Grzegorz Banasik, lead QA tester Rafał Bujalski, lead game designer Łukasz Błaszczyk, art producer Grzegorz Pamuła, and general manager Daniel Armstrong.

It’s been a few weeks since the release of MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, and the game has been well-received by both reviewers and players. What’s been the most unexpected thing you’ve noticed about how people are reacting to it?

We’ve been blown away by the amazing response from both critics and players! The level of support has been truly surprising, and we couldn’t have predicted this much enthusiasm. We always thought MOUSE: P.I. For Hire had potential and hoped people would enjoy it, but you never know how a game will be received until it’s released. Thankfully, people are loving everything – the combat, the world, the characters, the story, the references, and everything in between! It’s been incredible.

We’re truly overwhelmed by the incredible amount of support we’ve received – honestly, the sheer scale of it has been the biggest surprise.

Before the game came out, everyone was excited about its unique, cartoonish art style inspired by 1930s animation. Now that it’s been released, it seems that excitement has continued. Looking back, do you think the art resonated with players as much as you’d hoped?

We definitely think so! While MOUSE: P.I. For Hire isn’t the first game to use the rubber hose animation style – games like Cuphead and Bendy and the Ink Machine have already done that well – it seemed like there wasn’t a first-person shooter that used this style in a fully 3D black and white world. That combination seems to have really appealed to players, giving them a fresh look and a connection to classic animation.

Now that people have played the whole game, what are your thoughts on how well the serious, detective story blends with the game’s more over-the-top, cartoonish style?

We’ve received a lot of positive feedback that the game successfully blends a dark, noir-style story with over-the-top cartoonish elements, and that’s fantastic! We put a lot of effort into creating a detective story that explores deeper themes, while still being a fun video game with talking mice, fast-paced shooting, and tons of hidden references and easter eggs. We may have gone a little overboard with the references at times, and that’s understandable, but we hope players still had a great time!

Many people who played and reviewed the game liked its style and immersive feel, but also wished there was more direct interaction for solving mysteries. Were you surprised by this feedback, and would you consider adding more of those kinds of gameplay features in future updates or sequels?

Grzegorz Banasik explained that they anticipated some players and critics would want a less intense detective experience in MOUSE: P.I. For Hire. They described the game as focusing more on watching Jack Pepper investigate, gather clues, and solve the mystery himself. However, they understand players also want to be more directly involved in the investigation, and they’re taking that feedback into account for future games!

We’ve received a lot of positive feedback that the game successfully combines a dark, mysterious story with over-the-top, funny scenes, and we’re thrilled to hear it’s resonating with players!

Since the game launched, we’ve fixed problems like crashes, black screens, points where players couldn’t continue, issues with side quests, and situations where the game froze. What technical challenges has the team focused on most since then?

As we discussed, the team has been working on fixes for important issues, especially problems that were preventing players from progressing in the game. While we’re happy with how the game is currently playing, our main priority now is improving performance on the Nintendo Switch 2. We expect to share updates on this soon, and we appreciate everyone’s patience.

We’ve received requests for features like support for ultrawide monitors, a New Game Plus mode, the ability to replay levels, and more ways to customize the game. Are any of these being considered for future updates?

Hey everyone, just wanted to give you a quick update on what we’re doing with MOUSE: P.I. For Hire. We’ve been reading all your awesome feedback and ideas for new features, and we’re seriously looking into a lot of them – even building some early versions to test! It’s still too soon to promise everything will make it into the game, but I can tell you we’re working on getting it playable on ultrawide monitors. Now, this first version will be a bit of a quick fix – you might see weapons or effects get cut off at the edges, but you’ll be able to see the full environment in ultrawide. To fully support ultrawide without any of those issues, we’d need to completely redo all the weapons and effects to scale properly, and that’s a big task that’ll take time. We don’t want to announce anything until it’s really polished, so keep an eye on our social media for more news and updates. Thanks for all your support!

A mod created by fans is already adding features like improved black and white, sepia, and full-color display options to the game, along with other helpful improvements. The developers have seen this mod and its changes to the game’s look – what do they think about players re-imagining the visuals? Considering how popular the mod is, would the team ever consider adding an official full-color mode as an option? Or do they believe the black-and-white style is a key part of what makes the game special?

Grzegorz Pamuła shared how amazing it’s been to see the enthusiasm for MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, especially from the modding community! He explained that they always intended the game to be entirely in black and white, drawing inspiration from classic rubber hose animation and detective noir. While they aren’t sure if they can add options like color filters or a full color mode, they definitely understand why fans would love to see the game in color!

We always planned for our game to be entirely in black and white, largely because we were inspired by the classic rubber hose animation style and the look of detective noir movies and TV shows.

So, the recent update talked about tweaking the graphics settings on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S to make Quality Mode look even better. I’m really curious – are the developers planning any more performance boosts or visual upgrades specifically for consoles down the line? I’m hoping they’re not done optimizing!

As a gamer, I’m really excited to hear that the developers are constantly working to make the most of each console! They mentioned they’re looking at things like the Switch 2’s hardware – like the Mouse Mode they’re testing – to give us the best possible experience. If you want to stay up-to-date on all the latest news and updates for MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, the best place to check is their social media channels. I’m definitely going to be keeping an eye on those!

How does developing for the PS5 Pro feel compared to the original PS5, and did the upgraded graphics power allow developers to create noticeably better games?

According to Mateusz Michalak, adding a specific mode for the PS5 Pro wouldn’t have significantly improved the game, MOUSE: P.I. For Hire. The game is already well-optimized for graphics processing, and the standard PS5 has enough power to run all visual features at the highest quality settings, so a PS5 Pro version wouldn’t offer much benefit.

With the release of MOUSE: P.I. For Hire finished, what’s the most important thing the team learned during launch that they’d apply to future projects?

Our first game, MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, was a huge learning experience for the team at Fumi Games! The most important thing we discovered was how crucial playtesting is. We did tons of internal testing, got feedback from users, and even simulated reviews before launch – all of which helped us release a better game. Now that it’s out, we’re getting even more fantastic suggestions from players. We’re committed to reviewing this feedback, understanding what players want, and using it to improve the game and future projects!

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2026-06-03 17:13