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.
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile
A few new nuggets on this forthcoming blockbuster in a developer update posted yesterday, from co-studio head Chris Plummer. Players in Germany can now join the Warzone Mobile soft launch, and Plummer repeated that the studio is closing in on the stated worldwide launch window of spring 2024. He also suggested Activision might add another new soft launch territory early next year, and that a more specific launch date is coming very soon.
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
This remake of the 2005 classic is out now, but is only playable on the new iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, plus certain high-end iPads.
It is ‘free to start’, so is playable for free for a short while until a paywall kicks in. The full game unlock IAP is half price – $29.99 – for launch, and will go up to a beefy $59.99 after January 17.
NASCAR Manager (Hutch)
As discussed recently with bossman Shaun Rutland, UK studio Hutch is following up the recent match 3-meets-car culture title Forza Customs with NASCAR Manager. It looks like a new spin on its F1 Manager game for US audiences, and it is now in pre-order, with an ‘early access’ period to come in 2024.
One Punch Man World (CrunchyRoll)
This Mihoyo-style open world adventure is now confirmed for release worldwide on iOS and Androidn on January 24. It’ll be out on PC as well, and will have cross-play compatibility.
Death Stranding Director’s Cut (505 Games)
This port of Kojima’s oddball PC and console game has been delayed to “early 2024”, says publisher 505 Games. Like Resident Evil 4 and Village, it’ll be coming to high-end Apple devices only.
Cooking Fever Duels (Nordcurrent)
This launched worldwide on iOS and Android earlier this month, and is a new PvP spin on Nordcurrent’s hit restaurant game.
Sea of Conquest (FunPlus)
State of Survival maker FunPlus announced this week that this new nautical adventure is now in soft launch on iOS and Android. It is out in a mix of the usual territories plus some other nations – UKIE, AUNZ, Nordics and a smattering of South East Asian and European nations.
AEW: Rise to the Top (East Side Games)
This licensed idle game is now confirmed for worldwide launch on January 17. It’s coming to both iOS and Android and is available to pre-order on both platforms now.
Drift Runner (Road Burn Games)
The studio behind Burnout Masters just released this new drift racer worldwide on iOS and Android. It’s a slick mix of rubber-burning races and car customisation.
Halfbrick+ – Bears Vs Art, Gibberish
As we revealed back in September, Fruit Ninja maker Halfbrick has gone all-in on its subscription service, Halfbrick+, which has just been released on iOS after a spell as an Android-only app.
The Aussie developer has just added two more titles to the catalogue as well: Bears Vs Art is a puzzler that’s been revived from Halfbrick’s back catalogue, and Gibberish is a new word game.
