Strange Scaffold saved a tactics game from cancellation
Gods With Badges began at Artificer as Hard Justice and was almost shelved, until Strange Scaffold rebuilt it and brought it back to life.
Gods With Badges, the narrative tactics game unveiled during the Triple-I Initiative showcase, owes its existence to a rescue. The project began at Artificer, the Devolver Digital-owned studio behind Showgunners and Sumerian Six, under the working title Hard Justice, but it stalled internally and came close to being shelved for good. Its reappearance under a different roof is a rare example of unfinished work finding a second life rather than disappearing into a vault, and it puts a bright spot on a showcase otherwise built around brand-new projects.
El Paso, Elsewhere developer Strange Scaffold picked it up through Project Share, its initiative that asks studios to open the source code of older games so others can build on them. The team reworked Artificer's unfinished work through its own lens, keeping the disgraced-officer premise: players guide Harrow McClellan through the dystopian city of Scarhelm, opening each encounter with a choice-driven conversation that can slide into isometric turn-based combat. Switching off your body camera unlocks extra tactical options at a narrative cost. It reaches PC in 2027.
Tags
- pc
- indie
Sources
Where this story ran: 2 outlets on 8 October 2026. The summary above is written by GamersGuild; the links go to the original reports.