Sound clever in meetings with this concise snapshot of the new games you need to know about.
Here every Friday you’ll find big games gone global, fresh soft launches, the latest release dates and everything in between.
This week’s new games digest is sponsored by Playroom, a lightning-fast backend multiplayer toolkit for games. Build and scale games effortlessly, with zero server setup and no maintenance required.
Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City and San Andreas (Rockstar)
The remasters of GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas are all live to download now through the Netflix app, free for subscribers. At the time of writing, the trio of games take up the top three in the UK iOS charts, and account for three of the top four spots in the US (the other game is Monopoly Go).
They are mobile editions of the remasters that arrived on console and PC in 2021. All three games are also now available as regular premium downloads too, on both iOS and Android. Each individual game is $19.99.
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories & Chinatown Wars (Rockstar)
A fun addendum to the GTA trilogy stuff: two other GTA games appear to have gone ‘free to start’ this week. GTA: Liberty City Stories first arrived as a PSP spin-off in 2005, while GTA: Chinatown Wars was originally released as a Nintendo DS exclusive in 2009.
Each was updated this week to give players thirty minutes of free play, before a $4.99 paywall kicks in.
Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat (YunChang Games/Nebulajoy)
The hack-and-slash series comes to iOS and Android on January 10, co-developers Capcom and NebulaJoy have confirmed. It promises the same over-the-top fighting as in the console games, and features familiar characters and locations from those games, too.
Little Nightmares (Playdigious)
Bandai Namco’s spooky adventure comes to iOS and Android through premium publisher (and recent interviewee) Playdigious. The game is out now and is priced $6.99 until December 19, when it goes up to $8.99.
Crozzle (MAG Interactive)
Here’s an unusual one: MAG Interactive sent out a press release this week to announce that a new game, Crozzle, would be going into soft launch in…the US. It’s a crossword-and-decorate game which “will be available for download in the US market before the end of the year.”
We checked and it doesn’t seem to be out yet, so it’ll arrive by the end of the month, all being well. MAG also did not send out any imagery, either, hence the placeholder image above.
New Netflix games for 2024
As we reported earlier this week, there were four new games announced as coming to Netflix this week, all down as a loose 2024 release. Most notable of the four is Sega’s retro 2D platform reboot Sonic Mania Plus, which has done the rounds on PC and console before. There’s also Tilting Point’s FashionVerse, sim title Game Dev Tycoon and Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit from Spry Fox, which is now owned by Netflix.
January’s Apple Arcade games
Apple confirmed three new games coming to the service in January earlier this week. Bandai Namco’s Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom is the most noteworthy, another take on Animal Crossing, plus there’s a Blackjack game and Cornsweeper, a jaunty puzzler.
Art of Rally (Funselektor)
This indie drift racer got delayed a little bit. It was meant to drop this month but it’s now arriving on January 18 on iOS only. It’ll launch at $4.99 then go up in price to $7.99 thereafter. It will arrive on Android devices at a later date.
Truuu (Decibel Games)
Here’s something a bit different: a trivia game of sorts that you play with your voice. It’s out now on iOS only from Decibel Games, a specialist audio-first app maker.
The Rise of the Golden Idol (PlayStack)
This detective game sequel was revealed during The Game Awards last week, and is coming in 2024 to mobile through Netflix. It’s also coming to PC and console too.
Harmonium (The Odd Gentlemen)
Another crossplatform game coming to mobile via Netflix, and another game revealed during The Game Awards. Harmonium is ‘an interactive sign language musical and adventure game’. No release window yet, though.
