While December is typically a quiet month for new video games, this year is particularly packed. Many high-profile games — many of which are tied to well-known franchises like Marvel, Indiana Jones, and Power Rangers — are coming out just in time for the holidays. It’s not just the big IPs that you need to keep an eye on, though; games like Infinity Nikki also have a chance to become some of 2024’s biggest breakout hits.
To help you keep track of all the video games coming out in the last month of 2024, I’m spotlighting the biggest games that you should be keeping an eye on.
Recommended if you like: Battlefield 2042
Call of Duty has had a tremendous year thanks to Black Ops 6, but the next Battlefield game from EA still seems to be a ways off from release. Until then, Delta Force can tide you over. This is a Tencent-backed reboot of an old PC shooter series from NovaLogic and focuses on large-scale modern military battles. In addition, Delta Force will feature a mode inspired by extraction shooters. While its developers are framing this impending launch as a PC Global Open Beta, it’s just a renamed early access release of this free-to-play shooter as it will kick off the game’s seasonal live service support.
Buy at Steam begins on December 5. It’s also in development for consoles and mobile.
Recommended if you like: Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster
In 2021, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi released Fantasian on Apple Arcade. It was an excellent turn-based RPG that stood out thanks to its beautiful environments that were scanned in from real-world dioramas. While this full-fledged RPG experience was trapped on Apple devices for some time, Square Enix is helping Sakaguchi’s Mistwalker bring the game to PC and consoles with visual, voice acting, soundtrack, and difficulty enhancements. Don’t let Fantasian’s mobile roots scare you off; this is one of the best RPGs of the decade. Don’t miss out on it.
Buy at Amazon launches for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch on December 5.
Recommended if you like: Genshin Impact
Infinity Nikki has already garnered over 30 million pre-registrations, so there’s a good chance it is the video game industry’s next big hit. Infinity Nikki is a self-prescribed “open-world dress-up adventure,” where players can complete platforming challenges across a vast open-ended world as part of the grind to obtain new pretty outfits for their character. Don’t sleep on this game either, as it could break out in the same way games like Genshin Impact have previously.
Buy at Infinity Nikki launches for PC, PS5, iOS, and Android on December 5.
Recommended if you like: Overwatch 2
Marvel Rivals may be a pretty shameless copy of Overwatch, but that doesn’t make it any less appealing. It puts the hero back in hero shooter by featuring characters from the Marvel Universe. That includes beloved heroes and villains like Iron Man and Doctor Doom, as well as more obscure ones like Jeff the Baby Land Shark and Luna Snow. While the hero shooter formula has been played out at this point, Marvel Rivals’ comic book coat of paint makes it appealing enough to likely be a hit when it launches this month.
Buy at Marvel Rivals will be released for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on December 6
Recommended if you like: Diablo IV
Path of Exile is one of the most prominent Diablo competitors out there, drawing many people in because it’s free to play. Path of Exile 2, which started as a major overhaul of the original but has since transformed into its own game, finally enters early access later this month after a delay out of November. If you’ve been getting a bit burnt out on Diablo IV and its Vessel of Hatred expansion, Path of Exile 2 is the game to play for more grindy, loot-driven isometric RPG action.
Buy at Steam enters early access on PC on December 6.
Recommended if you like: Wolfenstein: The New Colossus
Bethesda first teased MachineGames’ Indiana Jones titles years ago. Now, it’s finally out later this month. It’s a first-person action-adventure game starring Troy Baker as Harrison Ford’s iconic character. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will feature yet another memorable, puzzle-filled adventure for Indy and builds upon the fun first-person combat that can be found in MachineGames’ Wolfenstein titles. While it’s not going to be on PS5 for a few months, Game Pass subscribers on PC and Xbox Series X/S will be able to dive into it real soon.
Buy at Amazon launches for PC and Xbox Series X/S on December 9. It will be part of the Xbox Game Pass catalog from day one.
Recommended if you like: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Finally, there’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind from Tetris Forever developer Digital Eclipse. This is a retro-inspired beat ’em up based on the classic action show franchise. Essentially, Power Rangers is getting the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge treatment, as this is a beat ’em up that will feel like it’s pulled straight out of the 16-bit era while graciously providing the power fantasy of being a Power Ranger. You’ll be able to pilot Dinozords and Megazords as well, which should be fulfilling for Power Rangers fans.
Buy at Steam will launch for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch on December 10.
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.