When it comes to big-budget AAA games, October looks like it will be one of the most densely packed months of the year. We’re getting new entries in beloved series like Dragon Age, Super Mario Party, Call of Duty, and more as well as remakes of games like Silent Hill 2. In between those games, we also have experimental indies and bold new IPs from lauded game developers, including Metaphor: ReFantazio. Some of the most notable games of 2024 will be coming out this month, so there’s almost certainly going to be something that appeals to you out this October.
There’s actually so much coming out that you might have some trouble sifting through it all and determining what you want to pick up. To help, I’ve rounded up what I consider the eight biggest video game launches of the month, which everyone should have on their radar. On top of that, I have a comprehensive rundown of everything else to expect through this packed month of games.
Silent Hill 2 (October 8)
Recommended if you like: Resident Evil 4 (2024)
Konami’s Silent Hill 2 is an all-time video game horror classic, setting a high bar for narrative, world-building, and mind-bending visuals that almost every horror game since has tried to live up to. After laying the series to rest for years following the cancellation of Hideo Kojima’s Silent Hills, Konami is making a concerted push to bring the series back. The linchpin in all of this is a Silent Hill 2 remake from Bloober Team, the developer behind horror games like The Medium. It follows in the footsteps of the remakes of horror classics like Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil 4, turning the eerie adventure into a contemporary third-person action-horror game while reimagining some narrative elements. It’s the horror game to play this October.
Silent Hill 2 will be released for PC and PS5 on October 8.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero (October 11)
Recommended if you like: Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
Back in the PS2 console generation, the Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi series of 3D brawlers were some of the best anime games out there. These fighters captured the bombastic action of the popular shonen manga and anime and the utterly destructive powers of its characters. Bandai Namco Entertainment is finally bringing the series back with Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero. This fighter will feature a whopping 182 fighters to play as at release, a story mode that lets you reshape the tale of Dragon Ball Z, and a mode that lets players create their own battles and cutscenes. If you’re a Dragon Ball fan, this is looking like the ultimate game for the franchise.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero launches for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on October 11.
Metaphor: ReFantazio (October 11)
Recommended if you like: Persona 5 Royal
After directing the last three Persona video games, Katsura Hashino wanted to create something new. Hashino formed the Studio Zero team under Atlas, and its first game is launching this month. The end result is Metaphor: ReFantazio, a turn-based RPG that swaps the high school drama and demons of Persona for more a traditional medieval fantasy. It’s far from typical in its presentation, though, as Metaphor: ReFantazio oozes with style. It’s always exciting when developers can branch out and try something new and not just work on the same franchise over and over again.
Metaphor: ReFantazio will be released for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on October 11.
Super Mario Party Jamboree (October 17)
Recommended if you like: Pummel Party
The Mario Party series has gotten a new game every few years since it began on the Nintendo 64 era. Super Mario Party Jamboree feels like a culmination of sorts for the franchise as it combines the more experimental nature of games like Super Mario Party and the throwback nature of Mario Party Superstars in one package. It features five new game boards that are wildly different from each other, a big cast of characters that includes newcomers like Pauline, and more wacky side modes to play with others. The Mario Party series is the king of party games, and I doubt Super Mario Party Jamboree will do anything disastrous enough to change that.
Super Mario Party Jamboree launches exclusively for Nintendo Switch on October 17.
Batman: Arkham Shadow (October 22)
Recommended if you like: Iron Man VR
Camouflaj proved it could translate the superhero experience to virtual reality with Iron Man VR, and now it’s giving Batman the same treatment. Better yet, it’s technically the next entry in the Batman: Arkham series, which was started by Rocksteady. While VR games aren’t for everyone, Batman: Arkham Shadow looks like it will be a very faithful and intricate conversion of the Arkham series’ gameplay to VR. I’ll also appreciate the more Batman-focused narrative in the wake of some of the wild swings Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s story took earlier this year. If you own a Meta Quest headset, it seems like Batman: Arkham Shadow will be a must-buy.
Batman: Arkham Shadow launches for Meta Quest 3 and 3S on October 22. If you buy one of those headsets between now and April 30, 2025, you can redeem a copy of Batman: Arkham Shadow for free.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (October 25)
Recommended if you like: Battlefield 2042
For 2024’s Call of Duty, Treyarch and Activision are returning the Black Ops series. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will continue the story set up in Black Ops Cold War, with a focus on spies and espionage in the 1990s. Of course, it will also feature the multiplayer and zombies modes that are standard with every new Call of Duty game. The biggest change is Omnimovement, which gives players more freedom to move and dive in any direction while they are shooting. While Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III felt underbaked, Black Ops 6 is shaping up to be a much more comprehensive package.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launches for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on October 25. It will also be available through Xbox Game Pass on day one.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure (October 29)
Recommend if you like: Tell Me Why
While Don’t Nod has moved on from the Life is Strange series and is now making Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, Deck Nine is working with Square Enix to continue the series with Life is Strange: Double Exposure. This game is a follow-up to the first Life is Strange as it follows Max Caufield years after the events of the game that kicked this series off. She now works at a college called Caledon University, but after one of her friends is murdered, she discovers that she now has the power to shift between parallel timelines. As she solves this mystery, players will have to make a lot of different choices that will have massive impacts on the narrative. Hopefully, Double Exposure lives up to the high bar previous Life is Strange games set.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure will come out for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on October 29. It will also be ported to Nintendo Switch at a later date.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard (October 31)
Recommended if you like: Baldur’s Gate 3
It has been nearly a decade since the last Dragon Age game, but BioWare and EA are finally reviving the series this October. Dragon Age: The Veilguard continues the story that began in Dragon Age: Inquisition, as players assemble the titular fighting force to take on Solas, a companion from Inquisition who has gone evil and is trying to tear open the Veil that protects Thedas. Expect a choice-heavy RPG with more fast-paced, real-time combat than previous games in the series. As this is following the rocky launches of Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, BioWare really needs to redeem itself with The Veilguard if it wants to restore player faith in it as a premier RPG developer.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard launches for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on October 31.
More new games in October 2024
- Master Detective Archives: Rain Code+ — October 1
- Throne and Liberty — October 1
- Kill Knight — October 3
- MechWarrior 5: Clans — October 3
- Victory Heat Rally — October 3
- Potion Tycoon – October 4
- SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game — October 4
- Until Dawn — October 4
- Disney Pixel RPG — October 7
- Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred — October 7
- Amber Isle — October 10
- Backyard Baseball ’97 – October 10
- Miraibo GO – October 10
- Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire — October 10
- Europa — October 11
- Starship Troopers: Extermination — October 11
- Transformers: Galactic Trials — October 11
- Undisputed — October 11
- Just Dance 2025 Edition — October 15
- Neva — October 15
- New World: Aeternum — October 15
- Nikoderiko: The Magical World — October 15
- MapleStory Worlds – October 16
- Age of Empires Mobile — October 17
- A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead — October 17
- Blazing Strike — October 17
- Starship Troopers: Continuum – October 17
- RetroRealms: Halloween — October 18
- RetroRealms: Ash vs Evil Dead — October 18
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed — October 18
- Unknown9: Awakening — October 18
- AWAKEN: Astral Blade — October 22
- Fear the Spotlight — October 22
- Lynked: Battle of the Spark – October 22
- No More Room in Hell 2 – October 22
- Streets of Rogue 2 – October 22
- Rivals of Aether II — October 23
- Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town — October 24
- Wilmot Works It Out — October 23
- Card-en-Ciel — October 24
- Date Everything — October 24
- Flint: Treasure of Oblivion — October 24
- Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven — October 24
- Voidwrought – October 24
- Yakuza Kiwami for Nintendo Switch — October 24
- Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Expanded Edition — October 25
- Sonic X Shadow Generations — October 25
- Ys X: Nordics — October 25
- Reel Fishing: Days of Summer — October 28
- Clock Tower Rewind — October 29
- Eve Galaxy Conquest – October 29
- Post Trauma — October 29
- Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket — October 30
- Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered — October 31
- Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered — October 31
- Triangle Strategy for Meta Quest 3 — October 31