Mario + Rabbids creator’s next game spoofs Bloodborne and more, in a mascot platformer parody of the games industry starring a badger
The creator of Mario + Rabbids has revealed his next game, and it’s a send up of the games industry as a mascot platformer: Bradley the Badger.
Davide Soliani – affectionately known as Ubisoft Crying Man – joined with writer Christian Cantamessa (Red Dead Redemption, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor) to found new studio Day 4 Night. Bradley the Badger is its first game.
The adventure will blend live-action and animation as the titular creature explores a variety of unfinished worlds and would-be reboots of his series, each a different genre, as a parody of the games industry – it’s been compared to Wreck-it Ralph and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Bradley the Badger reveal trailerWatch on YouTube
Key to gameplay is The Kit, which allows Bradley to modify unfinished assets and solve puzzles, while smacking enemies with a frying pan.
And it looks like there will be plenty of tongue-in-cheek game references too. Badgerborne I’m very interested in.
Image credit: Day 4 Night Studios
I need to play this immediately | Image credit: Day 4 Night Studios
“We wanted to make something that would reignite us, something capable of taking us back in time to when, with younger eyes, the whole world of videogames seemed to shine,” said Soliani. “And we wanted our mechanics to be the perfect bridge between the past and the future.”
“Bradley is part love letter to videogames and part satire of them,” added Cantamessa. “Games are an art form and this is a story inspired by our adventures making them. From the inner turmoil of self-doubt to the joy of building worlds, we set out to transform those experiences into a game that anyone can get lost in.”
Soliani departed from Ubisoft last year after 25 years at Ubisoft, 11 of which were spent on the Mario + Rabbids tactics games for Nintendo Switch. “I have decided to leave Ubisoft to embark on a new adventure,” he said at the time. “I can’t say more now. Thanks a lot for everything, truly.”
Then earlier this year, the developer pair revealed Day 4 Night, stating they were working on a “passion project”.
Soliani noted there’s “a growing interest from the player towards games that are a bit, let’s say, out of the chorus. They are a bit different. They are willing to tell different stories…that’s what we are observing as developers and as players.”
Bradley the Badger certainly seems to fit the bill.
