Colorbound, a puzzle-platformer from Panpipe Studio, is out now on Xbox Series X|S for $14.99. Players control Anku, a boy in the mountains of Chile who uses color to reunite his late grandfather's scattered band. The game draws on Aymara culture of the Andes, blending pastel watercolor visuals and panpipe music into a story of love, loss, and family.
Lichthund announced that Rockbeasts, a rock and roll management RPG, will launch on PS5 in January 2027. Players take the manager's chair, juggling resources and band personalities. Critical Role is partnering with Lichthund on the creative and publishing side, and Matthew Mercer and Sam Riegel are joining the cast. The game can be wishlisted now.
Echo Weaver, developed by Moonlight Kids, launches today on Xbox Series X|S and PC and is available day one with Game Pass at $19.99. The team calls it a Metroidbrainia, where each loop in the space colony Provenance lasts only minutes and progress comes from knowledge rather than gear. Publisher Akupara Games called it the best demo it has played, while the team said the knowledge-based time loop made development roughly five times the work of other genres.
The ID@Xbox team has revealed six games in its October 2026 Indie Selects lineup, including Mortal Shell II, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game, Mewgenics and The Sinking City 2. Mortal Shell II removes the traditional stamina gauge for faster, more aggressive combat in a compact interconnected open world, while Mewgenics is a roguelike tactical turn-based RPG from Edmund McMillen with a generational breeding system. The curated collection is available in the Indie Select Hub on the Xbox Store and Xbox.com/IndieSelects, rotating weekly on Wednesdays.
Forest of Deceit, the social deduction party game from Ghost Camp and Thomas Mackinnon, has received a localisation update adding German, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese and Italian. The update is out now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Windows PC, with Xbox Play Anywhere support.
MegaPals, one of the five new games in The Jackbox Party Pack 12, is a word association game inspired by Mind Meld where matching answers earns points and the two players who pair up best become the MegaPals. An eight-player game has 28 possible winning pairs, and a between-round relationship chart shows each player's highest-scoring friend. The pack launches October 15 on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
Afterburner Studios announced its action-platformer Elta: Defy All Gods, launching February 2, 2027, with a free PS5 demo available today. The demo covers the game's opening, letting players retrieve the dragon-god they worship, fight corrupted enemies in melee, and explore the glacial world of Lerna. The studio describes the game as blending brawler combat, search-action exploration and dragon companion abilities, inspired by Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, God of War and Hong Kong martial arts films, and made with Focus Entertainment.
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles has released its biggest update yet alongside two new DLCs, Verne Bannerless and Medieval Houses, now available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC. The update adds upgradable surveyors including the Behemoth, unrestricted curved walls, the ability to sail any ship, and an overhaul of wars and combat. Medieval Houses adds six timber-clad houses, while Verne Bannerless brings Verne and Piranha air units.
Ember Lab announced that Kena: Scars of Kosmora will launch in 2027 on PS5 (physical and digital) and PC (digital), pushed back to polish a larger game experience. The character-focused linear adventure has a broader and deeper scope than 2021's Bridge of Spirits, following Kena and her childhood friend Orfio to the island of Kosmora to uncover its four elements and Alchemystic Temples. Kena also gains a crystalline canine companion that serves as a mount and aids in combat and Alchemystic puzzles both mounted and on foot.
Section 9 Interactive, a small studio founded by three former Tarsier Studios members, announced that its sci-fi action adventure End of Abyss launches October 1 on Xbox Series X|S. Players take the role of young combat technician Cel, descending into an abandoned underground facility to upgrade gear, use a Scanner to explore branching paths, and fight monsters. The team said the game began as a top-down shooter prototype and shifted toward a slower action horror metroidvania focused on exploration and tension, with enemies prototyped in Unreal before their designs were finalized.
Why this: The studio explains how its top-down shooter prototype became an action horror metroidvania, showing how a small team settled on its art and enemy design.
Forest of Deceit, the social deduction party game from Ghost Camp and Thomas Mackinnon and narrated by Sylvester McCoy, has received a localisation update adding German, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese and Italian. The 4-to-8-player game is out now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Windows PC, and supports Xbox Play Anywhere.
Suri: The Seventh Note, in development for four years, launches on PS5 on October 30, 2026, with pre-orders now open. The game draws on Indian art and architecture, records 80 percent of its music with original analogue instruments, and sets a 480-millisecond gap between main beats to balance player input response with rhythm. A Standard Edition and a Digital Deluxe Edition are available, the latter including an exclusive Chandini Skin DLC and 3-day early access, with a 20 percent pre-order discount for PlayStation Plus members. The game is part of the PlayStation India Hero Project.
Used Cars Simulator is out now on Xbox Series X|S for $19.99, currently $15.99. The game's five tips cover inspecting before repairing, keeping money moving, leaving the shed to explore, treating cars as physics toys, and deciding how much chaos your business can handle. Published by PlayWay S.A., it has players inspect, negotiate, repair, customize, and resell cars.
Feel Free Games announced that Luma Island is coming to PS5, and it can be wishlisted on PlayStation Store starting today. The game launched on PC in November 2024 and has drawn more than 800,000 players, with online co-op for up to 4 players and cross-platform play across PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. It offers three difficulty modes — Cozy, Adventure and Hero — with no stamina bars or inventory limits.