During the June 2022 Nintendo Direct Mini, Ubisoft confirmed that Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope will launch on October 20.
A new trailer describes the game’s story premise and gave a quick glimpse at the turn-based combat system. The battlefield can now be traversed in 360 degrees, a departure from the rigid linear movement that was in the first game. Mario’s arch-nemesis, Bowser, has also been revealed to be a playable character.
Ubisoft also announced a showcase to show off the game and provide more information about it on June 29 at 12 p.m. ET.
The game’s store page shows that it will include a Gold Edition that contains the base game, the season pass, and the Galactic Prestige Pack. The season pass holds upcoming DLC content such as an additional story and new heroes, quests, and battles. The Galactic Prestige Pack has three weapons skins that can be used right away.
The release date was originally leaked ahead of the presentation through Ubisoft’s store.
Nintendo’s fall lineup starts in September with Splatoon 3 and ends with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet in November. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope fits snugly between the two in October to keep the Nintendo Switch’s exclusive content pipeline steady. The console already has had an impressive first half of the year, and these upcoming releases will close out 2022 nicely.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is the direct sequel to 2017’s Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. In our review, we said, “There are plenty of nuances to find in Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, so long as you’re willing to indulge its playful side.”
The Call of Duty franchise has held a special place in my heart ever since I played my first Black Ops game back in 2010. That game's campaign was something else, with twists and turns that culminated in a mind-blowing finale. We can all admit that compared to those older campaigns, the recent CODs have been lackluster at best, and a complete and utter disappointment at worst. The reboot of Modern Warfare did give me some hope, as the first two installments were actually quite good, but the third game left such a bad taste in my mouth that I wasn’t exactly expecting much from Modern Warfare 4.
After recently finishing the campaign, I can say that this installment is nothing like the recent releases and instead feels closer to the franchise’s roots. For the first time in a long while, the campaign comes across as well-crafted rather than rushed to hit a release date. It arrives three years after MW3, and you can see exactly where all that time went. It seems the studio finally made listening to player feedback a priority.
Epic Games has just announced the 2026 Epic AI MegaJam, which is looking to see how much game development can be squeezed into a very short window. This is running from November 12 through November 15.
Participants can work alone or in teams of up to five people, build in Unreal Engine or Unreal Editor for Fortnite, and bring along “as many AI agents as you want.” Epic explicitly encourages coding agents, AI-generated assets, audio tools, writing tools, and other AI systems. The official event page literally says "Vibe your way to $50k.”
It’s turning into a pretty good time to be a Monster Hunter fan who plays on a phone. Capcom has confirmed that Monster Hunter Outlanders will launch on Android and iOS on October 29, giving the series a new mobile-first game just as Monster Hunter Rise is also preparing to make the jump to smartphones through Netflix.
Outlanders is being developed by Tencent subsidiary TiMi Studio Group under license and supervision from Capcom. Unlike Rise, which appears to be the full console and PC game adapted for mobile, Outlanders is a free-to-play survival hunting game made specifically for phones.