Mobile Games News Recap #107 : HSR, Omega Strikers, underwater open-world...

Discover our weekly recap of the mobile games news on Android and iOS number #107 which presents you the news of May 2023! On the agenda this week: the release of Honkai: Star Rail, the release of Omega Strikers, the arrival of ARTE Family Bash, and much more to discover in this recap. We'll let you read it all below. ⬇️

Honkai: Star Rail released on Android and iOS

Let's start this recap with the release of Honkai Star Rail. The gacha RPG from Chinese developer Hoyoverse is finally coming to Android and iOS, a year and a half after its official announcement. Come aboard the Astral Express to discover this sequel to Honkai Impact 3rd that takes to the stars. In-game, freely explore vast science-fiction environments and engage in fierce battles at turn-based against the enemies you encounter.

Many fates are linked by the Astral Express trail, including those of the characters who may join your team during the adventure. Graphically sublime, Honkai: Star Rail distinguishes itself from other titles of the genre by a lore and a worked narration that will please fans of Genshin Impact mixed with more traditional tactical battles. If you're hesitating to try it out, I can assure you that it's a great title that will continue to roll out impressive content for several years, so go ahead and play it for free on Android and iOS.

Release of Omega Strikers, an arcade soccer game for 3

We follow up with the release of Omega Strikers, also highly anticipated this week by Android and iOS players. In this free-to-play title made by Odyssey Studio, you play as a Striker ready to take part in a sporting confrontation worthy of Galactic Football. But this new galactic sport pits two teams of 3 players against each other instead: a striker, a goalie and a defender. On the field, you have to move quickly, use your character's skill at the right time and time your shots like a pro to win.

Unfortunately, the title had a difficult launch due to poor handling on some screens, loading bugs and matchmaking issues. We hope that Omega Strikers will be able to get back on track and convince more players to offer small competitive events in the Mobi.gg community.

An underwater open-world by NetEase, Mystic Abyss: Lost Seas

NetEase announced this week a new open-world mobile game. Inspired by FPS action games and underwater adventures such as Subnautica, Mystic Abyss: Lost Seas will be the subject of further announcements from the studio ahead of its launch.

Release of Family Bash, a visual novel by ARTE

Imagine you're at a family dinner. It goes wrong, and instead of taking part in a disastrous discussion at the table, you pull out your phone to play. But now, Arte offers you a narrative game about family meals gone wrong. It's the inception of family problems. So you launch Family Bash, this comical yet dramatic new visual novel powered by ARTE, Atomic Raccoon and Kilosaurus on Android and iOS.

The game invites you to your virtual grandfather's 90th birthday party, where every decision you make can change the future of your entire family and reveal unmentionable secrets. Very well done visually and musically, Family Bash stretches and relaxes the family ties to make the story progress thanks to your choices. If you are not familiar with Arte productions, you should know that they are often very narrative and not very loaded with gameplay like Unmaze, Inua or Sadhana but they get very good ratings on the stores.

Arrival of Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon

I'm taking a brief detour from the Shovel Knight and world slayer to tell you about the arrival of the puzzle game from the Shovel Knight license on mobile. Announced some time ago, Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon will soon land on mobile as aNetflix exclusive, with its DLC included. Of course, you'll have to be a subscriber, love pixel art and the developers' humor to fully enjoy it.

But Shovel Knight pocket Dungeon has already conquered its small audience on PC with an original roguelike and brick-breaking formula. So get ready for the release of Shovel Knight full of action and deadly blows by gardening tool.

Launch of the pre-registration for Ace Fishing Crew by Com2Us

The Korean publisher Com2Us offers itself some time in the spotlight this week with the opening of pre-registrations for Ace Fishing Cre. Virtual fishing fans, you're in for a treat as the game appropriates real locations for arcade fishing sessions. Catch fish of exotic species all around the globe, unlock new crew members and master your line throughout your session. You can even engage in competitive PvP activities and assert your menu of the sea by becoming a restaurant owner. Ace Fishing Crew will be released soon on Android and iOS at an unknown date.

Esport : Dead by Daylight Mobile Tournament, Nights of Terror

Let's start this weekly esport update with the Dead by Daylight mobile tournament called Nights of Terror. After launching the new version of their asymmetric horror game on the stores, NetEase and Behaviour Interactive are launching their first official online competition. The best survivors of this tournament will be able to share the total cashprize of just under $30,000, with the first player taking home $4,000 alone. The idea is to reward many players for participating in this first-ever esport on Dead by Daylight mobile by allowing the top 128 players to win between $50 and $1,000. Qualifying rounds will be held until May 14 and the final rounds will take place before May 28.

Esport PUBG Licensing Tournament

But that's not all for our point esport as PUBG mobile is finally empowering its enthusiast community with the opening of its tournament licenses. On the PUBG Mobile ESPORTS HUB, all you have to do is create an account to ask PUBG Mobile to make your event an officially licensed event. This offers several benefits: potential global cashprize support depending on the size of the event, the ability to qualify for official leagues through your amateur tournament, sharing on social networks, and official recognition of your competition. Getting an official PUBG mobile tournament license has never been easier and hopefully this will push the European scene to grow even more.

Release of Defense Derby, an anime tower defense, in some regions of the world

If you like tower defense games sprinkled with challenge, the release of Defense Derby may interest you. On your central tower, merge your units, deploy upgrades and make sure enemies don't get to the end of the path you have to defend. Colorful and dynamic, this title from the studio Rising Wings has everything to be a nice pocket game to test a few hours. For the moment, Defense Derby early access is scheduled in Korea, China, India and Thailand until May 11, and we don't yet know the game's worldwide release date.

Release of LEGO Bricktales on mobile

Enter a world of bricks filled with puzzles to solve with LEGO Bricktales available for 6 euros on Android and iOS. For each puzzle, use physics and build your own solution to the problem. Bricktales multiplies colorful and aesthetic dioramas and invites you to affect its universe by building and destroying as you please. With a set of bricks, imagine a helicopter, a fountain or a futuristic object to meet the needs of each environment or simply beautify your virtual playground in sandbox mode. Discover LEGO Bricktales now via Play Store and Appstore.

Closing of Bilibili's Eternal Tree

Obliged chapter of the week, the passage of the closings is a rite to respect in 2023. This time, it is BILIBILI that informs its fans of the closure of the RPG Eternal Tree. Between now and the fateful date of June 30, you can get your money back, knowing that refund requests will be considered until July 30 if you have good account history information to provide as proof. A new page is being turned for Bilibili, which is focusing on its more recent releases such as the gacha RPG Higan: Eruthyll, which has been very popular with the mobile community.

Pre-registration at Aether Gazer

The opening of pre-registration at Aether Gazer brings the futuristic RPG one step closer to global release. Create an eclectic and charming cast of anime characters to try out various fighting styles and fearlessly explore the world of Gaia. Aether Gazer is already planning a global release with no exact release date with new pre-registration rewards on Android and iOS.

Mobile game partnerships of the week

The list of major partnerships is growing by the hour this week. Call of Dragons started the week by announcing a collaboration with Youtuber Zack King. Then Angry Birds unveiled its partnership with Mercedes to make its game available on the screens of E-Class vehicles and Stumble Guys is partnering with NERF around its first-person mode. To close the week, many other games have re-launched their historical partnerships such as Arknights, but also Mahjong Soul which is partnering with the famous Japanese series Code Geass.

Early access Hungry Shark Primal

After the release of the excellent Mighty Quest Rogue Palace, Ubisoft is rolling out a new title in its mobile games catalog by launching the early access phase of Hungry Shark Primal. In the virtual prehistoric waters, become the biggest aquatic predator and take as many victims as possible. Play as an upgraded and evolved shark, increasing your HP, damage and agility to leap at the throat of your victims with precision.

For this license that accumulates 1 billion downloads with all its titles, it's a new step towards international fame that begins with the regional launch of Hungry Shark Primal in the Philippines. You'll need your VPN to play this new opus since the title doesn't have an official worldwide release date yet.

Torchlight Infinite early access ends

XD Games says this week that the early access release for Torchlight Infinite has finally come and gone! On May 9, the cute and bloody hack 'n slash of the Torchlight license will debut as a full title with the launch of its new season, Cube of Rapacity. To coincide with the launch, a new character joins the Torchlight Infinite hero roster : Escapist Bing. So it's a good time to check out this arpg if you haven't already, or to check out Undecember again as it launches its chapter 12 in its new update.

Augmented reality MMO available in the US, Overbeast

When it comes to augmented reality, Niantic is a bit the only one on the market, and yet it doesn't really deserve its place anymore. The releases follow one another and look like skins poor licenses that we liked at the beginning but that we can't appreciate anymore when we have to fill a useless and cashgrab Pokédex with The Witcher monsters, Harry Potter elements or NFT creatures like Peridot will allow you. But a new competitor enters the arena. Its name? Liquid City.

This unexpected developer just released an augmented reality MMO called Overbeast in collaboration with Verizon. In Overbeast, grow your little forest and feed the beasts to make them gain power then participate in daily battles. The game is in the test phase in the US on Android and iOS but you can also give it a shot via testflight from your region.

Sky Children of the Light event Days of Nature to clean up the ocean IRL

Sky: The Children of Light has captured the hearts of gamers for several years now and is even preparing its own anime. At the same time, the game launches its Days of Nature and invites you to awaken your ecological conscience by obtaining in-game items related to nature. A part of the sales will go directly to environmental protection associations.

Release of Farlight 84 after 2 years of beta

Announced in 2020, the mobile battle royale Farlight 84 has often seen its release date postponed since. Launched in 2021, it then entered beta for an indefinite period of time and, 2 years later, we almost thought it would end up being released in 2084 since that is the age of its virtual world. However, Farlight 84 has just been released this week on Android and iOS so get your jetpacks and combat vehicles ready because the battlefield looks very explosive.

Trials, always trials

PvP also exists in real life between companies, it's called legal battle. And in video games, there are legal battles around every corner. On the one hand, NetEase is reportedly trying to sue Blizzard for getting Chinese players in trouble by dropping its local publisher, NetEase, and the publisher is demanding refunds for its players, but Blizzard is on record as saying that no lawsuit has made it to its desk.

On the other hand, the English CMA is blocking Microsoft's takeover of Activision-Blizzard King on the basis of anti-competition in cloud gaming, but Microsoft does not intend to let it happen. The Redmond firm has indeed appealed. And on longer stories, Apple finally prevails against the appeal of Epic Games in the trial around the purchase procedures on Apple via Fortnite. Another tech and video game giant, Tencent, wins its case against the boosting site Aidai Network Technology and pockets about 80,000 euros in refunds.

Announcement of the next game Rusty Lake: Underground Blossom

Not long ago, Rusty Lake released a new game to its multiplayer license under the name The Past Within. But the franchise is expanding again with the announcement of Underground Blossom, a game that, like Honkai Star Rail, decides to focus on train stations and the memories they hold. Point-and-click, puzzle and narrative intertwine to let you discover Laura Vanderboom's life through her past and present. With no official release date, this new Rusty Lake game is expected to be released on mobile and PC in late summer 2023.

Release of Northmen - Rise of the Vikings

Vikings are always in fashion. This warrior people has a new mobile game with the release of Northmen Rise of the Vikings. Invade the kingdoms of England: plunder the villages and monasteries of the region to accumulate wealth that will be used to train warriors and build your colony. Northmen: Rise of the Vikings is available for free on Android and iOS and offers a roguelike, RPG and city-building experience capped by Ragnarok.

Soon ads in the Play Store search bar

Ads are coming at us faster and harder than the Vikings did in their day. Now they'll follow you right into your suggestions in the Play Store search bar. In your search bar, you'll soon find suggested games with ads rather than the title you're really looking for.

Honestly, Google's services haven't changed much in the last few years, but when they do, it's rarely to the benefit of users. Some recommendations will not necessarily have the advertising tag displayed, but we'll know more by testing this new update currently being deployed on the Google Play Store.

Pre-registration for Badminton Clash 3D by Miniclip

If you like ultra-practical 1v1 handheld games, you're probably familiar with the publisher Miniclip, which has enjoyed success with 8 ball Pool. Here, the badminton court will be the arena of your competitive confrontations carried by the madding crowd and the noise of the shuttlecocks. Choose your character and outfit to boost your performance. Don't forget to upgrade your champion and his skills in hopes of dominating your virtual badminton duels. For now, Badminton Clash 3D is available for pre-registration and has not yet revealed its release date.

Unusual and independent mobile game releases

This already busy recap script wouldn't be complete without a look at some of the independent releases that many of you test every week. Among the new releases at the end of April, we find Tap Dragon: Little Knight Luna, a free clicker with cute illustrations that just waits for you to crush all your fingers on the screen as fast as possible to defeat bosses with your heroes. We also note the arrival of War Mongrels, a premium war game on the Eastern front of the Second World War which didn't please many on PC... and which is likely to please even less on mobile with a price of 40 euros worthy of Square Enix's price lists.

Speaking of Square Enix, the publisher is releasing its puzzle game The Centennial Case: a Shijima Story on the stores for 20 euros, a game directed by Koichiro Ito and Yasuhito Tachibana, respectively known for their work on Metal Gear Solid V and The Naked Director. Finally, the unattractive MOBA Sprite Legend also makes its release, but the whole thing is lifted by the release of Cuttlefish on Android and iOS, an FMV available for 2 euros 70. This interactive family heist game may find a different audience than what we usually see on mobile.

Mobile Game Recommendations of the Week

This week, we offer you two recommendations to inaugurate the GameMobi review section, which might help you find some nuggets to discover on Android and iOS. We start with Isle of Arrows as a premium game, a tower defense game full of challenge and ingenuity that is clearly worth its 7 euros. Isle of Arrows is the work of independent developer Daniel Lutz, who worked at Electronic Arts and Square Enix before establishing his success as a solo dev. Having tested it, it's an addictive little bomb on Google Play and Appstore.

And, as we don't want to disappoint the free-to-play players, we warm up on Rocket league Sideswipe this week, which deserves a good recommendation for those who haven't tried it yet. A very successful adaptation of the PC and console game, this little brother of the license mixes arcade inspiration, intuitiveness and ultra gripping competition for a dynamic result that fits in your pocket and that you can easily re-launch from time to time on Android and iOS.

Thank you all for reading this far, and see you next week for more mobile gaming news!