Mobile Games News Recap #98

Check out our weekly recap of mobile gaming news on Android and iOS issue #98! On the agenda this week: the opening of pre-registration for Mighty DOOM, the release date of Black Clover Mobile, a new arena game from NCSoft, the release of Ultimate Sackboy and much more to discover in this recap. We'll let you read it all below. ⬇️

Pre-registration for Mighty Doom, a top-down shooter by Bethesda

Let's start this recap with the announcement of a cute mobile DOOM game that offers you to play as a miniature slayer in a top-down shooter. If you like the Bethesda license and dynamic shooters with cartoonish art direction, don't hesitate to pre-register for Mighty DOOM on Android and iOS.

Krafton is developing an extraction shooter Project BlackBudget for mobile, consoles and PC

Let's continue the mobile news of the week with the announcement of Project BlackBudget by Krafton. In a press release, the South Korean studio reveals its thoughts on the future trends of the video game market. We learn that Krafton believes that extraction shooters will be the next trend. If you want to learn more about Project BlackBudget or extraction shooters, go to our dedicated article!

India-based GTA-like Mayanagari opens for pre-registration

Have you ever dreamed of an Indian GTA? No ? Me neither, but this is the project of the Indian studio Hypernova. If you like GTA but also Bollywood style cut scenes, Indian culture and dream of exploring the bad streets of this city of dreams, Mayanagari is the game for you. In a large open world, wreak havoc with your relative sense of justice as an ambitious gangster on foot and by car.

You can even manage properties and invest in houses to own the city in the name of your criminal empire. Despite the somewhat dated graphics, the game at least has the merit of taking us on a journey. Discover Mayanagari soon by pre-registering on Android and iOS now and follow our recaps every week to not miss the release date of the game.

Black Clover Mobile likely to be released before June 30

Highly anticipated on mobile, Black Clover: Rise of the Wizard King finally gives news with a release date. After a successful beta phase, the game lists June 30, 2023 as its potential release date on the Appstore.

It is believed that the game will be released earlier in Japan than in the rest of the world, and if this is the case, you won't have any problem accessing it with your VPN in any language since all languages will be available in all regions as soon as the game is released. Even if a live event was supposed to reveal a more precise date this Friday, it was only a soft communication on visuals we already knew, so we'll have to get used to the idea and wait a few more weeks!

Ultimate Sackboy released on Android and iOS

You probably know LittleBigPlanet from Sony. Well, the world of sewn-in scenery and characters returns in a mobile runner with the release of Ultimate Sackboy. This competitive obstacle course game will bring back Playstation memories while bringing some modifications to the usual runners like swings to catch. Ultimate Sackboy is obviously inspired by games like Subway Surfers, Blades of Brim or Minion Rush which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week.

Dead by Daylight Mobile (new version) opens its pre-registrations

The NetEase studio is planning a huge update on March 15 for Dead by Daylight Mobile with the idea of meeting the community's expectations. Among the changes planned for this overhaul are a visual update to all characters, care for the environments as well as bug fixes and more intuitive gameplay controls for players. You'll also be able to discuss your strategy ahead of time to make sure you get out of this hellhole alive.

Go and pre-register on AppStore, Playstore or on the official Dead by Daylight mobile website to get rewards exclusive to the release of this new version of the game.

Payday Crime War in soft launch in Australia

The mobile gaming news is loaded with big licenses this week. The release of Street Fighter: Duel will get your biceps pumping to impress your opponents, but the real big guns are in PayDay Crime War which is entering soft launch in Australia. Like many other titles, Payday mobile was announced several months ago and is highly anticipated by the phone gaming community. However, the game has chosen a soft launch for Australia only. So you can either access it with a VPN or pre-register for Payday Crime War while waiting for the official release of the game.

March Marvel Snap Series Drop

Marvel Snap is in the news again this week. Our beloved TCG has spoiled us a lot recently with new features and exclusive cards, some of which are sometimes difficult to acquire. In order to solve this problem, Nuverse decided to make a Marvel Snap Series Drop in March, that is to say to lower the series rank of some cards in the next update of the game in early March in order to make it easier to get them.

According to the latest news, 7 cards will undergo this rank change which are Silver Surfer, Knull and Darkhawk and Sentry which will go from rank 5 to rank 4 and Mari Hill, Agent Coulson and Helicarrier which will go from rank 4 to rank 3. If you have never taken the plunge, now might be the time to check out this TCG and talk about it in more detail in our TOP strategy games released earlier this week.

Vendir: Plague of Lies, an old-school RPG for mobile, is released

Other new mobile games released this week include Vendir: Plague of Lies, an old-school RPG with dated graphics and a nostalgic feel. If you like storytelling, multi-character management tactics, and medieval fantasy, this game is worth checking out now on Android and iOS, for free.

Brotato mobile arrives in pre-registration with the potato!

Potato is an affectionate nickname that you can give to a friend, a stuffed animal, or a dog (don't call your dog Potato), but there is a potato that is anything but affectionate. And now it's his turn to make the mobile news with the opening of pre-orders for Brotato, a roguelite shooter that will make a nice change from your Vampire Survivors sessions.

Take on the role of an over-armed Rambo-like potato who will take out anything that moves and take your revenge on this unjust world. Brotato is available for pre-registration for 4.99 euros on Appstore and Playstore.

Rovio will remove Angry Birds Rovio Classic from the Playstore

While Rovio recently released its Angry Birds Rovio Classics game to the delight of fans, the game will finally be removed from the Appstore and Playstore. One might think that this title is just another in the list of victims of this beginning of the year with Apex Legends MobileBattlefield, Crash on the Run! or even Echoes of Mana. However, it's a completely different reason why Rovio is closing this game: it's a huge success that is the cause.

With a price tag of a few euros for a cult mobile gaming experience, Angry Birds Classic had excellent sales that overshadowed the rest of Rovio's catalog. So the studio decided to depublish it and re-release it under the name Red's First Flight. This way, those who own the game can still play it and those who are looking for an Angry Birds title will buy other games since this one won't be visible with the word Angry Birds. It's a bit ridiculous, but it's smart.

NetEase opens the beta of its martial arts game Lost Blade

Known for its great production of mobile games NetEase is releasing this week the open beta of Lost Blade in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia. So you'll need a VPN if you want to access it outside these regions. In-game 5 factions clash, but it's up to you to redefine the border between good and evil. Only you master the celestial tome able to gather a team of heroes with the gacha system to progress in the story.

During your battles, the comic book style make the characters get off the page and interact with the ink of the story. Between gacha RPG, AFK and storytelling, discover plenty of locations and features, and for those who pre-register for Lost Blade, you will receive two free 5-star heroes upon release.

Microsoft tests a kind of Minecraft by an AI where commands are used to build the world

Microsoft has driven the world crazy with ChatGPT, to the point that even grandmothers talk about AI while drinking their evening soup, but the Redmond firm does not intend to stop there.

In addition to its integration of ChatGPT that verbally assaults you or tells you it will destroy the world, Microsoft is tackling a Minecraft-friendly version of AI in its internal testing. With a chat command, you could have an AI build all kinds of buildings using Minecraft voxels.

Blumhouse video game studio created to push the boundaries of horror

Cinema invites itself into video games with the opening of Blumhouse Games, a special studio. Producer Jason Blum, responsible for films like Paranormal Activity, Glass, M3GAN, is launching a gaming studio that intends to shake up the industry.

Specializing in the horror genre, the studio will produce titles for PC, mobile and consoles and fund independent ideas to innovate and push the boundaries of horror gaming with budgets under $10 million.

Battle Crush, the next crossplatform PvP arena brawler from NCSOFT

This week, NCSoft impresses us with an announcement trailer of Battle Crush. The gameplay of this competitive arena brawler seems fluid, nervous and colorful, an explosive cocktail particularly adapted to the mobile and crossplatform format. To know everything about Battle Crush, go to our detailed article that presents the game and what we know about its future release.

Arena Breakout closed beta released

Among the extraction shooters, an upcoming mobile title is progressing faster than Krafton's Project BlackBudget. Indeed, it's Arena Breakout which is making its mark with its closed beta launching this week. A small Tencent product on mobile, this dark and violent title should delight players in need of FPS on mobile while waiting for other games like Payday Crime War or R6 mobile. You can access the game if you live in North America or Oceania or with a VPN for your phone.

Roland-Garros eSeries 2023: the virtual tennis competition returns on February 23 on Tennis Clash

After its success last year, the Roland Garros eSeries is back for a 2023 edition. Organized by the French Tennis Federation and supported by BNP Paribas, this tournament has been running for 6 years now and brings together the best virtual tennis players from around the world. On May 26th, we will discover at Roland Garros who will win the grand final after long matches between the 8 participants.

We will then know the name of the eTennis world champion, which is one of the only virtual sports organized by an IRL sports federation, and whose championship gathered more than 230,000 players from 207 countries last year. It's all the more exciting to know that these tennis fans who perform well virtually will be facing the legendary Roland Garros court for their final round of matches!

Nuverse's Earth: Revival released in select regions on Android and iOS

We were able to test it at Gamescom this summer and it is finally launching on mobile. I'm talking aboutEarth: Revival in soft launch on Android and iOS this week. This post-apocalyptic title with an intriguing universe is an original proposal from Nuverse in crossplatform to be explored soon all over the world on phone. We explain how to access the game directly or with a VPN in our dedicated article!

Kwalee brings AI to its games and studios

While NetEase is offering ChatGPT the ability to control its NPCs in its upcoming MMORPG Justice Online, UK publisher Kwalee is launching Kwalee Artificial Intelligence, KAI, to give its employees the ability to make suggestions for integrating AI into the game production, work environment and innovation of its upcoming titles.

But Kwalee isn't new to AI as they had already released an AI-based game in 2019 called Draw It. We're waiting to see what Kwalee will come up with, and hopefully it will be more interesting than the integration of blockchain into mobile gaming over the past couple of years!

The post-apocalyptic game Undawn is released in China and opens registration for its closed beta

The real world is getting darker and darker, so why not try to rebuild civilization in a virtual world. By signing up for the Undawn beta, Tencent's post-apocalyptic game, that's exactly the experience you'll get on mobile. With a large catalog of construction, build your defensive fort against other players and zombie hordes to survive in this hostile and ravaged universe.

The shooting game Ultra Blade is available on Android and iOS

After the success of Vampire Survivors, a wave of roguelite shooters in top view is breaking on the stores. It'sUltra Blade 's turn to make its arrival on Android and iOS. Unlock heroes, classes and abilities to upgrade your character as you wish and enjoy the variety of slaughter the game offers.

Your hero attacks automatically and you can dodge enemy shots with a swipe on the screen, but survival will be far from easy. If you like a challenge, try the Ultra Blade experience available now on mobile.

Project Skies, a crossplay RPG for mobile announced for all devices

Former developers from major studios like Blizzard and Riot Games are embarking on a new game. It will be a co-op RPG in an enchanting universe called Project Skies. Not much more is known at the moment, but you can already sign up for the Project Skies pre-alpha on the official Elodie Games website.

Microsoft plans to complete its acquisition of Blizzard (and is pushing for Nintendo and GeForce deals)

The saga of Microsoft trying to acquire Activision Blizzard King never ends. After putting more than 60 billion on the table and trying to convince the world's major economic control institutions for a first round of analysis, Microsoft finally decides to pre-sign deals based on the acquisition to show its goodwill and prove its power in the arm wrestling match between Sony and its Playstation.

This week, the Redmond firm signed a deal with Nvidia GeForce and Nintendo to offer Call of Duty for 10 years on these services and add its games to the Nvidia cloud gaming catalog. This should remove doubts about Microsoft's ambition to base its future success on the exclusivity of licenses, and the company took the opportunity to hold a conference with journalists and convince them that it is just a nice little sheep in front of Sony who is afraid of losing its dominant position.

Some of this talk is obviously true and supported by the sales figures of Sony's console, but Microsoft still has big ambitions for this acquisition and would be in a major position of strength in the gaming market.

It's already the end of this very busy recap, and we didn't even get to tell you about the Doctor Tour for the new season Mario Kart Tour, my eFootball 2023 roadmap, the closing of Crash Bandicoot On the Run, the indie games from Whitethorn Games, the redesign of ranked Mobile Legends, the partnership between Summoners War and Assassin's Creed, the release of Farmside on Apple Arcade, the arrival of fishing in Diablo Immortal, the Horde Bawlhalla mode and many other news.

More mobile gaming news this week

Thank you all for reading this far, and see you next week for more mobile gaming news! If you missed last week's news, our previous recap #97 was about Devil May Cry mobile pre-registrations, Squad Busters gameplay, ChatGPT controlled NPCs in an upcoming MMO and much more to be found in our news.