The evenings are getting darker and the days are getting wetter, which offers up the perfect excuse to get stuck into some games. Thankfully, the games industry knows this, and as winter rolls in so does the usual deluge of new releases.

Chances are you'll be playing God of War, Modern Warfare 2, Bayonetta 3 or Sonic Frontiers this weekend. If you're done with Plague Tale, Mario + Rabbids or any of the other big hitters that have arrived in recent weeks that is.

Of course, it's not all about the blockbusters, and there are plenty of smaller games either out already or on their way which shouldn't be overlooked. Regardless of your platform of choice there's plenty of excellent games to get stuck into at the moment. If you're currently enjoying one of the games mentioned above, or playing something completely different, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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I hope you like the rest of the newsletter!

Take care everyone, and enjoy your games!

Jeff

If you enjoy The Week in Games and would like to support it, please consider a paid membership from only £1 a month. A huge thank you to those who already do.

THE WEEK IN GAMES

The best news, deals and gaming content of the week!

NEWS

• Here's a breakdown of how much power your consoles use, and how much that costs in the UK. 

• God of War Ragnarök’s day 1 patch includes over 160 fixes. And Santa Monica Studio "strongly encourage" you to install it. 

• Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal is now facing an in-depth investigation by EU. 

• Insomniac Games has announced that five more Ratchet & Clank games will be added to PlayStation Plus Premium later this month. 

• 343 thanks fans for their patience as Halo Infinite finally adds long-awaited features. 

• Stray has been given an utterly adorable fan-made Game Boy demake. If you're a fan of the game you have to see this one. 

• Final Fantasy 16 will be exclusive to PS5 for six months, Sony has confirmed. 

• Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has claimed that the recent Grand Theft Auto 6 leak won’t impact the title’s development at Rockstar Games. 

• Kojima Productions confirms that Death Stranding has reached over 10m players in three years. 

• Netflix has announced plans for a Gears Of War live-action film and animated series. 

• Lionsgate has revealed it’s in discussions to greenlight “a big AAA game” based on the John Wick franchise. 

• BioWare teases the next Mass Effect game with clue-filled video clip for N7 Day. 

• Awesome Games Done Quick 2023's full charity speedrun schedule is now live. 

• Slightly Mad Studios founder and former CEO Ian Bell has criticised Electronic Arts following the publisher’s decision to cancel the Project Cars series. 

• Switch hits 114m sales as Nintendo lowers sales forecast. 

• Some retailers may have begun shipping copies of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet way ahead of the official release date. 

• Ubisoft has confirmed that its delayed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake is still in development.

DEALS

• PlayStation's November Sale rolls on, with up to 65% off a range of games both big and small.

• There's also a Games Under £20 Sale, and PlayStation’s Deal of the Week sees up to 55% knocked off Crash Bandicoot games.

• Over on Xbox there's a Games 50% Off Or More Sale, which is pretty self-explanatory, and a BANDAI NAMCO Publisher Sale, with up to 90% off - you guessed it - BANDAI NAMCO games.

• Nintendo of America has announced its first wave of Black Friday deals, featuring a Mario Kart hardware bundle and several software promotions.

• There’s a general sale running on Nintendo's eShop at the moment, with up to 75% slashed off the price of over 1000 games.

• Alba: A Wildlife Adventure and Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun are currently free on the Epic Games Store.

• Steam has a number of current Special Offers running, including 85% off Tekken 7, 80% off Warhammer: Vermintide 2, and more.

MORE!

• The Golden Games of Bond

The 25th anniversary of Rare's seminal N64 classic has prompted much celebration and analysis throughout the industry, and this excellent looking book from Nicolas Suszczyk promises "...a summary and analysis of the legacy of a game that changed a generation."

You can find out more here, or buy the book from Amazon here.

NEW RELEASES

All the major releases arriving this week and next!

THIS WEEK:

• A Little to the Left (PC, Mac) – November 8

• Football Manager 2023 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – November 8

• Oddworld: Soulstorm (Switch) – November 8  – Read review

• Return to Monkey Island (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S) – November 8  – Read review

• Sifu (Switch) – November 8  – Read review

• Sonic Frontiers (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – November 8

• God of War Ragnarök (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4) – November 9

• Vampire Survivors (Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One) – November 10

• Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – November 11

• Resident Evil 2 (Switch) – November 11  – Read review

• Tactics Ogre: Reborn (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, PC) – November 11

• Valkyrie Elysium (PC) – November 11

NEXT WEEK:

• Floodland (PC) – November 15

• Pentiment (Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC) – November 15

• Smurfs Kart (Switch) – November 15

• Somerville (Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC) – November 15

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (PlayStation 5) – November 15  – Read review

• Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (PlayStation 5) – November 15  – Read review

• Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – November 16

• Goat Simulator 3 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) – November 17

• Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PC) – November 18  – Read review

• Pokémon Scarlet (Switch) – November 18

• Pokémon Violet (Switch) – November 18

• Resident Evil 3 (Switch) – November 18  – Read review

• The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – November 18

RECOMMENDED READS

Hand-picked gaming articles from around the web!

Could 3D scanners be the answer to preserving video game collectibles?

By Jack Yarwood - Time Extend

An archivist sets out to preserve video game toys one piece of plastic at a time

Freaky games form some of my most vivid childhood memories

By Keza MacDonald - The Guardian

A new wave of indie horror games and remakes of haunting classics such as Silent Hill are getting more creative at trying to mess with your head.

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…and that’s it for this week!

I really hope you enjoyed the issue. I’m always looking at ways to improve this newsletter, so if you have any comments, suggestions or enquiries, please reply to this email or catch me over on Twitter!

Thanks again, and see you next week!

Jeff