By Lexi Luddy

Going back decades in the video game industry, November has been the biggest month for game releases.

Far enough out from winter holidays that companies will get two waves of sales, but close enough to Black Friday that a game’s price won’t be slashed even if it is on sale.

However, during the pandemic, there was a drought of big releases thanks to work-from-home and supply shortages, but now in 2023 games are coming out at a regular pace and October seems to be the new busiest month of the year.

Here is a round-up of every major video game release this month:

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage – October 5

Assassin’s Creed returns from its three year hiatus with the back to basics Assassin’s Creed: Mirage.

This game focuses on the social stealth and parkour from older titles, over the more action and role-playing style of the most recent games; Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla.

Be warned, however, that the game started life as planned as downloadable content for Valhalla and tells the origins of Basim, a major character in that game.

You don’t have to have play Valhalla to know what’s going on but with every new entry in the series, the Assassin’s Creed plot becomes more and more of a tangled web of pseudo-historical, pseudo-mythological, sci-fi elements that interconnect.

Available on: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC

Detective Pikachu Returns – October 6

It is rare for a year to go by without a Pokémon game.

This year’s game, however, is not a traditional Role Playing Game where you fight in battles with Pocket Monsters.

Detective Pikachu Returns is a sequel to the often forgotten 2016 mystery game, where you and a sleuthing Pikachu solve cases.

This game is designed for a younger audience so none of the puzzles are too difficult and it acts a nice gateway into the visual novel genre.

Available on: Nintendo Switch

NHL 24 – October 6

EA’s yearly sports games might be interactive but that doesn’t mean they aren’t some of the most popular games each year.

Much like the recently renamed EA Sports FC, this hockey game seeks to be as accurate a simulation as possible rather than a less realistic arcade game.

Available on: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC

Forza Motorsport – October 10

Microsoft’s premiere racing series is back with the first instalment of the simulation branch of the series since 2017.

During that time Forza Horizon 4 and 5 were released.

This game seeks to recreate cars, race tracks, and physics in painstaking detail to provide the most realistic entry in the series yet.

Available on: Xbox Series X|S, and PC

Lords Of The Fallen – October 13

Lords of The Fallen is the confusingly named sequel to the 2014 game also called Lords of The Fallen.

This action, roleplaying game takes great inspiration from the massively popular games from developer Fromsoftware.

The first Lords of The Fallen was an early iteration of what Fromsoft did with its seminal classic Dark Souls.

While 2023’s Lords of The Fallen takes inspiration from Fromsoftware’s much more recent award-winning game, Elden Ring.

Available on: PS5, Xbox X|S, and PC

Sonic Superstars – October 17

After the open-world Sonic Frontiers from 2022, the Blue Blur is back in a side-on, platforming adventure.

Despite strong sales and a massive movie series, publisher Sega has seemed unsure of what direction to take the franchise in over the last decade.

Superstars appears to be the latest attempt to harken back to the glory days of the 1990s when the series was just as big, if not bigger than Nintendo’s Mario franchise for a brief stint.

Available on: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC

The Jackbox Party Pack 10 – October 19

The latest in the long-running party game series, Jackbox Party Pack 10 is a game where instead of using a controller, you and you’re friends will use your phones to control the action.

Games included in the pack include; Fixy Text, Dodo Re Mi, Time Jinx, Hypnotrious, and Tee K.O. 2, with most games being playable with up to eight players.

Availbale on: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – October 20

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is going to be PlayStation’s biggest game of the year.

Developer Insomniac Games hit a home run with the first game in 2018, and forced its storytelling chops in Mile Morale’s solo spin-off in 2020, so it’s hard to imagine the sequel not at least living up to that level of quality.

The game sees Peter Parker and Miles Morales protecting New York, Queens and Brooklyn, as Craven The Hunter decides to hunt the most dangerous game.

Iconic villains a plenty and a sprawling open world promises plenty of fun.

Available on: PS5

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Somehow, there hasn’t been a new Super Mario. Bros. since New Super Luigi U in 2013.

Wonder looks to be a reimagining of 2D Mario with creative new level design, and striking new powerups.

You and up to three other players will be able to turn into elephants while jumping and stomping through the Flower Kingdom only three days after Sonic launches.