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.
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Valorant Mobile (Riot/Tencent)
According to the latest Niko Partners newsletter, Tencent is doing closed beta testing for a shooter called Project C, which is very obviously Valorant Mobile.
The beta very quickly leaked and is all over YouTube (above) and Twitter AKA X. Riot has previously confirmed a mobile edition of the game is coming, but has not committed to a release window just yet.
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (Square Enix)
Square confirmed that this latest FFVII spin-off will be released worldwide on September 7. Pre-reg is open now on both iOS and Android.
War Thunder Mobile (Gaijin)
This popular free to play game is well-established on PC and console, so it’s about time it came to mobile. It’s out worldwide now on iOS and Android.
Sugartown (Zynga)
Zynga revealed its first web3 game this week, but it’s not obvious what the actual game will be – the trailer above is fun but doesn’t really tell us anything concrete. VentureBeat got word from Zynga that suggests Sugartown is like the hub world for a variety of minigames, but that’s about it.
A look at the game’s Twitter feed tells us a lot about the current state of web3 gaming – every thread ends with: “This is the final post in this thread. Any other posts made in this thread by similar accounts may be malicious actors. Please always verify you are interacting with official Sugartown accounts before taking any actions.” Yikes.
Wizard Hero (Ruby Game Studio)
This got a mention in Rovio’s financial results as one to watch for the future, yet it appears to be available worldwide already on both iOS and Android, according to both Sensor Tower and Appmagic.
Made by Rovio-owned Ruby Game Studio, it’s a Vampire Survivors / Survivor.io clone.
My Perfect Hotel (SayGames)
At the time of writing SayGames is number two in the US and number one in the UK iOS chart with My Perfect Hotel.
It’s not a new game – it first broke out in August 2022 – but this week’s sudden surge has been enough to boost it to the top of the charts anyway.
It has experienced multiple big spikes since launch, particularly in November 2022 and again in January and April this year.
Bluey: Let’s Play! (Budge Studios)
This new launch got a decent App Store feature spot, and rightly so – this hit kids TV show is wildly popular among children and a surprising number of grown-ups too.
It’s made by Canadian kids game specialist Budge Studios, which also has Paw Patrol and My Little Pony games in its portfolio.
LEGO Legacy: Heroes Unboxed (Gameloft)
New to Netflix this week is this big-brand builder-battler from Gameloft. It is actually a resurrected free-to-play game that was released in 2020 but closed earlier this year.
Sword of Convallaria (XD Games)
Bravo to the PR agency doing comms for this game, who pitched this tactical RPG as ‘Fire Emblem meets Final Fantasy’ – a solid way to get interest in what appears to be one of about a million very similar fantasy RPGs out there.
It’s coming “later this year” from Shanghai-based publisher XD, with pre-reg open now on iOS and Android.
Indus Battle Royale (SuperGaming)
This lavish battle royale game already has 5m pre-registrations on Google Play, and this week its creator SuperGaming confirmed an open beta is coming by the end of the year.
The above trailer features several high profile Indian influencers, says the developer.
