Bradley the Badger Steals the Show at the Game Awards

While the main event of The Game Awards showcased some major announcements and cinematic spectacles, the real highlight emerged during the pre-show. Enter *Bradley the Badger*, an action-platformer that dives into a four-dimensional, meta exploration of gaming, playfully poking fun at titles like *The Last of Us*, *Cyberpunk 2077*, and *Dark Souls*.

The trailer kicks off with the premise that we’re already devoted fans of Bradley, a vibrant mascot character reminiscent of the PS2 era. As the trailer unfolds, we see Bradley embarking on a new quest, only to find his home transformed into a grimdark Soulslike environment. The scenery features walls made of petrified hands, some clutching glowing blue lanterns, before a title card appears reading “Badgerborne.” As Bradley navigates this unsettling world, he quickly realizes it’s still a work in progress. Art assets are labeled “WAITING FOR REVIEW,” and sticky notes clutter the environment, demanding various fixes.

This unfinished state grants Bradley the ability to manipulate textures and placeholder blocks, allowing him to reshape platforms and reprogram item properties. It’s a clever twist that sets the stage for a unique gameplay experience.

But the creativity doesn’t stop there. Once Bradley enters a *Cyberpunk 2077* realm, he can transform into untextured objects, rolling up walls as a trash bin or morphing into a pick-up truck and a size-changing apple in a nod to *The Last of Us*. The gameplay looks fantastic, requiring no coding knowledge (thankfully), as players can simply toggle various settings for each item—making them explosive or inert, large or small, magnetic or not. Just as you start to grasp the mechanics, Bradley reaches the limits of the coded game and wakes up as a real person, complete with grimy human feet and hands, and a poorly fitting badger hat. He finds himself in the development studio of Dreamwoods Games, surrounded by Bradley posters and notes, leaving players wondering what’s next.

The game’s Steam page clarifies its essence: it’s fundamentally an action-platformer where players wield “game developer powers.” Beyond that, it explores a beloved franchise gaining self-awareness, grappling with its fictional existence, and striving to reclaim its normalcy. Plus, it will feature live-action segments, which is a delightful addition.

Evan Peters, known for his role as Peter Maximoff in the *X-Men* films, voices the real-world version of Bradley in this debut title from Day 4 Night Studios, a team of former AAA developers with experience on titles like *GTA: San Andreas*, *Mario + Rabbids*, and *Dead Alliance*. Co-creator Christian Cantamessa describes *Bradley the Badger* as “part love letter to video games and part satire of them.”

Set for a Steam release in 2026, the game is likely to pursue console launches following its appearance at TGA.