The Biggest December 2023 Video Game Releases

Took long enough, didn't it? Rocksteady Studios' highly regarded Batman adventures are finally getting ported over to Nintendo's latest hardware, so now you'll get the chance to beat up some hapless thugs and fling some "Batarangs" as the "Dark Knight" while you're heading to work on the train. The Batman: Arkham Trilogy comes with Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, and Arkham Knight - if for some strange reason, you passed up on this series during its goated run or just want to experience the greatness of all three games one more time, hop into this Batman game compilation to save "Gotham City" from a vicious rogues gallery for the very first time or all over again.

The Dragon Quest monsters went from familiar enemies to reliable party members once the spinoff franchise known as Dragon Quest Monsters was introduced. The latest entry in the series is coming back real soon with a whole new cast of characters set within the mystical realm of "Nadiria." As Psaro, players will follow him during his quest for revenge as he's forced to become a "Monster Wrangler" to craft an army full of beasts for a decisive battle. Since Pasaro is cursed and unable to harm anything filled with monster blood, he's put in charge of aiding Nadiria's monster population and setting out to become the "Master of Monsterkind." Turn-based battles that feature Dragon Quest's long line of iconic beasts, vast exploration through gorgeous biomes, and a synthesis system that lets players combine two monsters to create an even stronger offspring are the essential elements in this latest Dragon Quest Monsters offering.

The SteamWorld franchise has proven to be immensely malleable as its steampunk vibes and robots existing within a post-apocalyptic society have been featured in various genres. Tower defense gameplay, a "Metroidvania" platformer, a turn-based strategy title, and more have all played a part in expanding the lore and fun factor of the SteamWorld universe. SteamWorld Build is looking to do the same within the confines of a city-building dungeon-crawling experience. Once you enter this game's Old West-inspired expanse, you'll need to keep it thriving as you use the ancient tech and resources gathered from below to help your town blossom into something truly remarkable. It's up to you to keep your "Steambot" residents happy, dig deeper into your mine to unearth more essential materials for your evolving town, and help defend that mine from all those no-good varmints.

Disney Dreamlight Valley, which is pretty much a Disney-fied version of Nintendo's incredibly successful Animal Crossing formula, is finally transitioning from its Early Access period to a full release. At first, the full launch of the child-friendly life simulator was promised to be a free-to-play experience. But now it's being released as a paid title that will come with a ton of content on launch day. For those who haven't taken this game for a spin yet, Disney Dreamlight Valley gives you a human avatar to play with as you traverse a world filled with recognizable Disney and Pixar characters. The game's main hub is the "Dreamlight Valley," which plays host to heroes & villains that you can interact with, opportunities to harvest essential resources, and tons of customizable items & cosmetics. The full launch of this game marks also happens to mark the release of the game's first expansion called A Rift in Time, which features a new explorable area ("Eternity Isle") and access to a mysterious new "Royal Tool" simply known as the "Hourglass."

90s gamers will most likely remember the PC FPS cult classic known as Kingpin: Life of Crime, a revenge-based shooter that puts players at odds with the kingpin that screwed you over and his criminal empire. Now those same fans are set to receive one of the more unexpected remasters of the year in Kingpin: Reloaded, which goes a long way toward sprucing up the original game thanks to some essential improvements. Those upgrades come in the form of visuals supported by 4K/60 FPS, Ultrawide support, rebalanced/polished gameplay aspects, a brand-new quest system, and the ability to switch between classic & enhanced modes. It's time to pick up your trusty lead pipe, arm yourself with a Tommy Gun, and keep that Shotgun real close as you delve into the underbelly of organized crime and shoot down anyone & everyone that tries you!

Sega isn't letting up on its Sonic the Hedgehog release schedule! Coming on the heels of the launch of the console-exclusive Sonic Superstars is the iOS mobile-exclusive Apple Arcade game known as Sonic Dream Team. For this 3D platformer, players run as fast as possible and jump to extraordinary heights as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Rogue, and Cream. Sonic fans should look forward to navigating stages across bright and bubbly realms that present them with ramps to leap off of, a near-limitless amount of rings to nab, and exciting boss battles. Dr. Eggman's presence will be felt again as Sonic and the gang must join forces to keep his maniacal dreams from coming true within the confines of a trippy dream world.

The survival horror stealth game series Hello Neighbor has garnered a ton of attention due to its fun (and incredibly tense!) premise of sneaking into a neighbor's house and trying everything in your power to stay out of their sights & their vicious grasp. Thus far, the IP has produced a prequel, a multiplayer spinoff, a machinery-building construction game, a VR entry, a full-fledged sequel, and even an animated series. Next is a mobile spinoff release entitled Hello Neighbor: Nicky's Diaries, which follows a grownup Nicky Roth who recounts his memories of everything surrounding his best bud Aaron Peterson and the mysterious Mr. Peterson. Prepare for another round of sneaking, hiding, and puzzle-solving as you maneuver through Mr. Peterson's home & eventually find out what's going on in his creepy basement.

For VR fans and gamers who love to fight for their lives during a zombie apocalypse, this next entry on our list of the biggest December 2023 video game releases is the move! Arizona Sunshine II brings back all the VR first-person zombie blasting of the first game and marks the return of the hilarious protagonist of that game's first crusade against the "walking dead." Sunny Arizona will become your hub world once again as you use all sorts of firearms and even a machete to tear up all the zombies (still lovingly referred to as the collective group known as "Fred") that attempt to eat you for dinner. It's going to be awesome to hop into this VR experience with an online co-op buddy and enjoy all the zombie-busting action Arizona Sunshine II is all about. Oh yeah - you'll get to take down all those zombies with your trusty German Shepherd by your side, too!

It's time to shine the spotlight on the marquee title on this list of the biggest December 2023 video game releases. Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment (the makers behind Tom Clancy's The Division series) have been working tirelessly to produce a AAA-licensed game based on James Cameron's Avatar film franchise. Now it's finally set to release in the form of the first-person, open-world action/adventure game Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. Players will step into the role of a Na'vi who has been raised in the militaristic ways of the Resources Development Administration (RDA). After waking up from a suspended animation period, this Na'vi individual sets out to discover their true origins and rebel against the evil human regime that taught him how to excel in combat. The Far Cry vibes are evident here as you can see gameplay full of intense first-person combat and instances where players take down enemy encampments. From a third-person viewpoint, you'll soar through the beautiful skies of "Pandora" atop your personal "Banshee."

Find out more about this game right here.

Shadow drops for any sort of movie, TV show, album, or video game are always a great time! So consider us shocked and overjoyed at the sight of a new trailer for this chaotic free-to-play first-person shooter that surprisingly announced its launch date. For those not in the know, THE FINALS is a unique 3v3v3v3 competitive multiplayer shooter where teams duke it out while rabid fans watch the proceedings via a game show feed. This game's base mode is called "Cashout" and tasks teams with opening essential vaults and fending off other trios while transporting them to a "cash-out" location. "Light," "Medium," and "Heavy" characters are at your disposal as you wield varied firearms, melee weapons, and gadgets while having the time of your life within highly destructive environments.

Warhammer 40,000 fans have been eating well this year on the video game front! Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin and Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun are the newest game adaptations, while Warhammer 40000: Darktide has gotten a fair share of updates that have finally brought it up to snuff. Now it's time for all those rabid Warhammer fans to gear up for an isometric turn-based tactical combat game called Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader. With an army of "Rogue Traders" to call upon, you'll get to command them as you contend with the rabid enemies of "Mankind." You'll need to stay on your P's and Q's while you push your units to careful positions that will simultaneously protect them and give them the perfect vantage point to go into attack mode. If you enjoyed Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, then you'll be happy to know the development studio behind that amazing computer RPG (Owlcat Games) has also cooked up this one.

We figured the expansions for Final Fantasy XVI were a ways away. But to our surprise, both of them were revealed during The Game Awards and one of them became available on the very same evening it was showcased. That initial rollout of DLC for FF XVI is entitled Echoes of the Fallen, which puts Clive Rosfield back in the driver's seat once again as he and his comrades look to get to the bottom of a mystery surrounding newly discovered dark crystals. Their newfound journey will take them to a mysterious new tower called the "Sagespire" and present them with new monsters to face in battle and new story revelations to discover.

THE FIGHTING GAME ROLLBACK REVOLUTION CONTINUES! Granblue Fantasy Versus, which initially came onto American shores in 2020, was tripped up by some faulty delay-based netcode. Even though it's another quality fighter from the developers at Arc System Works, its shoddy online performance kept its player base from enjoying it as much as they truly wanted to. Now a major update for the game on par with Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 is on its way with a slew of welcome features. Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is thankfully arriving with rollback netcode, crossplay, new characters (WE HAVE A NEW MAIN IN SIEGFRIED!), new stages, and a more powerful version of "Plus Skills" called "Ultimate Skills." We're not even gonna lie - that "Rising Royale" online lobby party game looks mad hype, too! Fighting game fans should stay in tune with this latest entry on our list of the biggest December 2023 video game releases.

Find out more about this game right here.

Be sure to check out our review for this game right here.

We're sure most of you reading this right now reached the end of God of War Ragnarök and saw that Kratos is on his own once again while his son Atreus has gone off to embark on an epic adventure of his own. Rumors have been floating around some sort of expansion heading our way for that game and we're happy to see that those rumors were based on truth! At The Game Awards 2023, we got the shock of a lifetime when it was announced that free DLC is coming to the God of War Ragnarök and it's entitled Valhalla. Kratos looks to be the only playable character this time around, which should be great news for some (or many!). While he partakes in a deeply personal and reflective journey, players will get caught up in some dangerous skirmishes and tackle new gameplay elements inspired by the roguelike genre.

After staying in Early Access for two years, the tactical first-person shooter Ready or Not is finally ready to enter its 1.0 state by officially launching in finished form. By hopping into this game, you'll be exposed to a gritty urban world where you and your fellow AI- or human-controlled SWAT team members must respond to dangerous situations. This means you need to be extra careful about pulling the trigger and detaining civilians who may make things a bit harder for you. Weapons and gear such as the Breaching Shotgun, Battering Ram, non-lethal grenades, and more will aid you during your more violent confrontations. Ready or Not is as realistic as a SWAT simulator as you're ever going to get. SOCOM fans might get their fill here!

Can you believe we're now up to the 10th entry in the Five Nights at Freddy's series? Pretty wild that those horror-inducing anthropomorphic bots have also gotten a big-screen adaptation this year, too. If you have a PS5 and a PS VR2 headset, get ready to confront those killer bots all over again from a first-person vantage point in Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted 2. The creep factor will be off the charts here during your time spent in a funhouse filled with dark hallways and boost that spring to life when you least expect it. The fun minigames should ease the mood a bit...that is until you're put on watch duty and have to shut the door as soon as you lock eyes with any one of Fazbear Entertainment's relentless killer bots.

The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 1: The Teal Mask DLC transported Pokémon Scarlet and Violet fans to the countryside of "Kitakami," which was full of new quests to embark on, new "Pocket Monsters" to collect, and plenty of new personalities to interact with. A second DLC chapter is on the way via The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 2: The Indigo Disk, which will take players to a familiar location that debuted in Pokémon Black and White. Now stationed in "Unova" as an exchange student, players will improve their Pokémon battling prowess as a member of the "Blueberry Academy." One of the biggest reasons to check this expansion is being able to capture all of the "Starters" from past games in the series. Similar to The Teal Mask, this latest bit of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet content will come with a fresh batch of new Pocket Monsters, combat challenges, and so much more.

To bring this wonderful year of gaming to a close and wrap up this collection of the biggest December 2023 video game releases, let's look at the sequel to one of the best VR games ever made. The first Asgard's Wrath is acknowledged as a killer app for the Oculus Rift VR headset thanks to its better-than-expected action RPG mechanics that allow players to partake in epic close encounters as mortal heroes. Asgard's Wrath 2 brings back its predecessor's engrossing first-person melee mayhem while adding a new rogue-lite mode that gives you an endless array of procedurally generated dungeons to battle through. This sequel's 60+-hour campaign should give you plenty of time to master your godly battle repertoire during your excursion through Ancient Egypt.