Recap #229: Mobile games news of the week

In this recap #229, 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: Fightland, the Game Awards reveal their big winner, Star Wars could be getting a collectible card game , and we've got a whole heap of other news to share with you.

Mobile games releases of the week

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

• Fightland is available on Play Store and App Store. This giant arena game promises large-scale battles with up to 100 players in a single colourful arena, divided into 4 teams of 25 members.
• Spider Tanks: Cores of Chaos has been released on Play Store and App Store, and features customisable tanks, 3v3 arena combat in top view and metal coins to collect.
• Crowd Legends: Club Football, the officially licensed football title from the Scottish Football League with almost 350 players from yesterday, is available on Play Store and App Store.
• Where Winds Meet, the PC gaming phenomenon, is finally out on Play Store and App Store. After surprising millions of players with its profoundly free-to-play model, we were beginning to get impatient to see it come to us on mobile!

We'll finish off with Dead Cells, the free Epic Games game of the week, which we at the editor's highly recommend!

Pre-registrations, announcements, updates and testing phases

Here's a selection of the pre-registrations and beta releases that made their mark this week on Android and iOS.

• A Star Wars CCG is in the works. Developed by Zero36 Studio and CCG Lab, this project is being set up in direct collaboration with Lucasfilm Games and will, of course, feature the iconic Star Wars characters and themes.
• Gumslinger 2: Ducks & Nukes opens its pre-registrations, a game featuring 1v1 duels where you throw slime and jelly at each other in every possible way, with exploded physics that make this title crazy on Play Store and App Store.
• Cloverpit Mobile is now available on Play Store and App Store. Scheduled for 17 December for less than $5, you're in a cell and you're going to clear your debts by betting it all on a slot machine.
• SMiniz enters closed beta. This casual match-3 game is banking on fans' enthusiasm for its success, with Kakao Games picking up the rights to K-pop groups from SM Entertainment.

Then there's the ARPG Abyssdia, which is now open for pre-registration on Play Store and App Store. On the Apple Arcade front, we can expect Cozy Caravan, Sago Mini Jinja's Garden, True Skate Plus and Potion Punch 2+ on 8 January.

Meanwhile, the adventure game Ponchorado is now open for pre-registration on Play Store and App Store. The MMORTS game Xeno Warpath is getting a soft launch on Play Store. Meanwhile, Mindcop, the investigation game, is now open for pre-registration on Play Store and App Store.

Other news and events from the mobile games industry

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

• UmaMusume Pretty Derby and its female horses win the title of best mobile game of the year at the Game Awards.
• King Arthur Legends Rise will be closing its doors after just one year.
• MiHoYo has a string of projects in the pipeline: Honkai: Nexus Anima (Pokémon-like open-world), Petit Planet (cosy simulation game) and Varsapura (urban open-world) are under way.
• Pokémon GO has launched remote trading, a feature long requested by fans.

In other industry news, Genshin Impact has teamed up with Duolingo for an exclusive quest.

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