Recap #212: mobile games news of the week

In recap #212, we take a look at the week's must-have mobile games releases, mobile news and pre-registrations/test phases not to be missed.

Sit back and relax as we round up all the week's mobile games news! On the agenda: the release of Pokémon Friends, pre-registrations for Warframe on Play Store and a whole host of other news.

Mobile games releases of the week

This week has been rich in release announcements, with many games now available on the stores:

• Pokémon Friends, a light puzzle game featuring casual puzzles and cute monsters, is available on Play Store and App Store. The aim is to collect plush versions of Pokémon. The puzzles come in sets of 3, and once you've solved a set, you can access the plush creation catalogue.
• Blazblue Entropy Effect is available on Play Store and App Store. Get on board straight away for hours of side-view action and metroidvania-style map exploration with this release from 91Act.
• Deadly Dudes, a NetEase offering, is coming to the App Store. In this side-view survival and action game, you mix basic construction, sarcastic heroes and zombie-killing galore.
• Mythic Item Obtained Idle RPG has just made its debut in the US, Japan and Taiwan with an infinite dungeon to explore on Play Store and App Store.

Meanwhile, the point-and-click Mutropolis, which lets you play as a Marsian exploring the planet Earth, has just been released on Play Store and App Store for $4. Metal Slug Tactics has just been released on the Crunchyroll Game Vault subscription via Play Store and App Store, and we end with Doodle God Crime Mafia, the free Epic Games Store game of the week.

Pre-registrations, announcements, updates and testing phases

• Warframe, which has already been released on iOS, is getting ready to launch a beta on Android devices. Go ahead and pre-register to be among the first players to enjoy the frantic multiplayer experience of this TPS.
• Pokémon Champions, the Pokémon battle simulator, is scheduled for release in 2026 on mobile and Switch. Collect them, train them, tweak their stats as you like and deploy your roster alone or with friends in the arena to win your duels.
• A Game About Digging A Hole, which couldn't be more descriptive, is now open for pre-registration on the App Store. Using shovels, drills and other digging implements, dig deep into the earth in search of marvellous treasures.
• Starship Warbeasts is scheduled for release in 2026 on Play Store and App Store, and is a cross-platform sci-fi card game that mixes Magic: The Gathering mechanics with a JRPG-style turn-based combat system.

Then there's Growbot, a 2D point-and-click game set in a space station, due for release on Play Store and App Store on 7 August. Bitmap Bay, a strategic roguelike in which you control a ship on a procedural ocean, is currently in testflight on App Store.

Crossfire: Legends, a complete and classic FPS experience, has started a regional beta which is currently running from 23 July to 22 August in South-East Asia. Enhypen has just been announced, and will feature the Korean boyband in a formula designed by TakeOne, known for BTS World and NCT Zone.

Other news and events from the mobile games industry

The mobile JV industry has more news in store for you this week:

• The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang series is coming and will bring the lore of the Kingdom of Dawn and its heroes to an epic animated series.
• You probably couldn't miss this absolute meme of the Coldplay concert. The camera in charge of finding the cute moments caught two high-ranking members of the Astronomer company in flagrante adultery, and now... they've even got their own video game, Coldplay Canoodlers!

See you next week for a recap of mobile games news!