Disney Speedstorm, Asphalt, Devil May Cry PoC: this week's mobile games recap

In this roundup, find out more about the release of Disney Speedstorm, the first reviews of Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat, and the new MSi Claw handheld console, plus lots of other news. That's what we'll be looking at together today.

The best mobile games releases, from Disney Speedstorm to Devil May Cry PoC review

There's been a flurry of releases and pre-registrations this week, and things are set to pick up speed soon, so be sure to keep an eye on our roundups!

• Disney Speedstorm could be out on 30 January: Disney and Pixar heroes from Mickey and Mulan to Sully from Monsters & Company and Woody from Toy Story will soon be playing Mario Kart-like on Android and iOS, according to the date given by Gameloft on mobile games shops.

• Release of Magic Chronicle: Isekai RPG: Inspired by games like AFK Arena, this idle fantasy focuses on a cast of cute, hand-drawn characters. You can try out the game for free and build your team to go on adventures in search of treasures and great dramatic stories on Google Play and App Store.

• Release of Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat: After months of mega-teasing and numerous testing phases, we're back to a classic and frankly passable gacha RPG. In game, you chain together combos and character switches as you traverse a dark universe populated by demons in semi-automatic mode on Google Play or App Store.

• Pre-registration for Night Crows: Wemix's MMORPG is a play-to-earn title with NFTs, and crossplay between PC and mobile. Discover all the features of a next-generation MMO with cutting-edge graphics, 1,000-player battles and a huge amount of content to try out in Night Crows by pre-registering now on Google Play or App Store.

As well as these major titles, the stores have also received the release of Cardara, a swipe-based roguelite on iOS (which we highly recommend), and the releases of Sea of Conquest and Buriedbornes 2.

Exciting pre-registrations for upcoming Android and iOS games

Pre-registrations are proliferating at the start of the year, so among the games you should keep an eye on, we suggest :

• Welcome to My Home - out on 18 January 2024 ;

• Yes, Your Grace - out on 1 February 2024;

• Yolk Heroes: A Long Tamago - out 19 March 2024;

• Tarisland - out in the first half of 2024.

Industry news: Asphalt Legends Unite branding, AI voiceovers and NetEase's Underage Mode

This week, the video game industry and web companies have again suffered waves of redundancies. In the midst of the tumult, more news is emerging around AI and addiction to reward systems in mobile games.

• Gameloft registers the trademark for Asphalt Legends Unite: Get out the snow tyres because winter may bring us a new racing game. On 9 January, Paris-based Gameloft SE reportedly registered the trademark Asphalt Legends Unite as the next title in the licence after Asphalt Xtreme.

• NetEase Games rolls out its "Underage Mode": With Underage Mode to protect youngsters and please the Chinese government, it is above all one-click parental control that is being strengthened. What's more, this mode offers the option of blocking in-game chat completely to protect minors.

• Netflix is thinking about another business model for its games: Netflix already offers a subscription service for series with ads, so it wouldn't be surprising to see a similar offer come to games, and that's what's currently under discussion.

• Voice-overs and AI: With the agreement within Sag-Aftra for the free use of artists' voices with AI, we can expect those who want to play the game to end up hiring out their voices, a bit like in Black Mirror.

AI has not said its last word, and Steam has just accepted games with AI on condition that they have a disclaimer. However, gamers aren't too keen on the idea, and American giant Wizards of the Coast has responded to accusations of AI art by denying that it used generative assistance for its promotional visuals.

Meanwhile, the portable gaming market continues to take shape with the announcement of the MSi The Claw controller, its competitor to the Steam Deck and reminiscent of the Asus ROG Ally.