Valko was already in active development as early as 2024
Of course, everything I’m about to say is pure speculation, but as I’m involved in game development myself, this scenario seems quite plausible to me.
Do you remember the ‘Yes, Cat Caretaker’ event that took place in the autumn of 2024?
Yes, the very one where we received accessories in the form of interactive ears and a tail?
Accessories so unique that the tail not only got its own tab in the customisation menu, but also, in essence, they were unlike anything we saw in any other event before or since?
Those very ears and tail, that had incredibly detailed mesh and weirdly complex animations?
The very same, that react not only to touch (like some other interactive accessories), but also to the switching of emotion tags linked to dialogue lines?
Based on my experience, I can say that this is a very common practice in game development – creating a technical foundation for a game mechanic, and then reusing it for multiple purposes. Developing game mechanics is expensive, so they are normally being designed not as unique solutions but as tools.
I’m fairly confident that the mechanics for interactive, emotion-responsive ears and tail were designed for Valko, and whilst the character was in active development, this technology was used for the cat caretaker event. This also supports (and is supported by) the observation that the official art with Valko was dated 2023 in the trademark.