July is typically the slowest time of the month for new video game releases, at least when it comes to big-name blockbusters. However, it’s a really good time to pay attention to some of the smaller, quirkier, and more subdued games that come out – Stray, Escape Academy, and As Dusk Falls were some of our favourite game releases in July.
But with the launch of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 at the end of the month, we’re definitely starting to kick into high gear again, as the anticipated game releases begin trickling out in the leadup to the end-of-year holiday season.
August sees the long-awaited arrival of lighthearted management game Two Point Campus from Sega, the release of Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered on PC, the Saints Row reboot, as well as another meaty JRPG in Soul Hackers 2.
We’ve also got some great-looking independent titles, namely Cult of the Lamb, developed by Melbourne’s Massive Monster, the latest narrative detective game from Her Story creator Sam Barlow, called Immortality, the action-packed brawler Midnight Fight Express, and Rollerdrome, a game that mixes rollerblading with gunplay and 1970s style.
Read: Cult of the Lamb: a look behind the scenes with Melbourne’s Massive Monster
Here are all the notable game releases in August 2022:
- South of the Circle
- Two Point Campus
- Arcade Paradise
- Cult of the Lamb
- Rumbleverse
- Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered
- Rollerdrome
- Tribes of Midgard
- Cursed to Golf
- Madden NFL 23
- Midnight Fight Express
- Saints Row
- Pac-Man World Re-Pac
- Soul Hackers 2
- Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed
- Immortality
- Inscryption
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection
- Phantasy Star Online 2
South of the Circle
Release Date: 3 August 2022
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S,
Developed by BAFTA-winning studio State of Play, South of the Circle is a beautiful-looking narrative game set in the 1960s, which follows the trails of a climate scientist that becomes stranded in the middle of Antarctica. As he clings to life and tries to find a way to survive, memories of the past come flooding back to him.
Originally released as an exclusive on the
Two Point Campus
Release Date: 9 August 2022
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S,
The long-awaited follow-up to Two Point Hospital is finally here. The lighthearted management strategy series carries the spirit of the goofy strategy games of the 1990s like Theme Hospital, and Two Point Campus takes the concept and transposes it to a bizarre university.
You’ll manage the campus, its facilities, its classes, and make sure the students are happy. If the quality of Two Point Hospital is any indication, Campus will no doubt be both engaging and entertaining with a hearty dose of chuckles. Needless to say, we have high hopes for this one.
Arcade Paradise
Release Date: 11 August 2022
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S,
Business simulation games like Powerwash Simulator and House Flipper have a surprisingly big audience – especially given the mundane chores many of them revolve around. The concept and appeal of Arcade Paradise is far easier to see, however. This title will have you build and maintain a video game arcade from scratch.
The trailer shows a progression of owning and working a laundromat and eventually turning it into the arcade of your dreams. What’s more, it looks like there are plenty of bespoke arcade minigames you can play, too. Colour us curious.
Cult of the Lamb
Release Date: 11 August 2022
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S,
From Melbourne studio Massive Monster, and punk indie publisher Devolver Digital, comes Cult of the Lamb, a cute and concerning hybrid that’s one part Don’t Starve, and one part Rimworld. You play as a lamb who’s been asked to start a cult for a sinister deity, requiring you to recruit and maintain your commune of disciples.
It’s a fascinating scenario, with moral quandaries made all the more difficult by the fact that these animals are just too cute to harm. It’s definitely one of our most anticipated game releases this month. To find out more, have a read of our Cult of the Lamb preview, as well as our interview with Massive Monster.
Rumbleverse
Release Date: 11 August 2022
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
From Epic Games Publishing and Iron Galaxy (developers of Killer Instinct) comes… yet another battle royale. However, Rumbleverse still looks like a lot of fun. It’s a melee-focussed, wrestling-themed battle royale where clotheslines, suplexes, and other over-the-top maneuvers are your weapons of choice. Piledrive your enemies from off the top of skyscrapers! Launch them into other players with a big swing!
Rumbleverse will be free-to-play, and given that Epic (Fortnight, Rocket League, Fall Guys) has a hand in it, it’ll hopefully see a large player base and prolonged content roadmap. With fighting game sensibilities and a goofy sense of humour, we’re keen to see how this one performs.
Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered
Release Date: 12 August 2022
Platforms: PC
Marvel’s Spider-Man was certainly been one of the highlights of the PlayStation 4, and with Sony’s eyes set on capturing an audience of PC gamers, it’s the latest former PlayStation exclusive to release on PC via Steam. Other PlayStation-to-PC game releases so far have included God of War, Days Gone, and Uncharted 4.
The PC version of this open-world action-adventure will naturally feature a slew of updated graphical options, including ultra-wide monitor support and ray tracing. If you haven’t had a chance to experience this one, the PC version is likely going to be the best place to do so. Web-slinging around New York City honestly never gets old.
Rollerdrome
Release Date: 16 August 2022
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5
This unique action game from Roll7, makers of the wonderful OlliOlli World, is definitely high on our list of game releases we want to play this month. Taking place in a fascinating, retro-futuristic post-apocalypse, Rollerdrome imagines a world where the favoured sport involves rollerblading and guns.
Read: Rollerdrome preview – Slave to the nosegrind
Think a mix of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater with Max Payne-style slow-motion shooting, and you’ve got a pretty good idea about what Rollerdrome is like. You’ll be chasing scores in a slew of different arenas, attempting to tick off a variety of challenges, and follow the overall narrative involving protagonist Kara Hassan’s rise up the ladder of the Rollerdrome league.
Cursed to Golf
Release Date: 18 August 2022
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S,
Golf certainly isn’t the most exciting sport, but for some reason golfing video games – and the twists they put on the sport – are often fascinating and incredibly entertaining. Cursed to Golf is the latest, and throws you into 2D golf courses set in some kind of golfing purgatory.
There are plenty of treacherous obstacles in Cursed to Golf, but thankfully there are also plenty of trick shots and special abilities you can imbue your ball and golf strokes with. It seems like an excellent way to channel those Golf Story vibes while we wait patiently for its sequel, Sports Story.
Madden NFL 23
Release Date: 19 August 2022
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that Madden NFL continues to be one of the most popular sports video games out there – even in Australia, where the population’s interest in NFL seems to only spike up around the Super Bowl.
Electronic Arts is always keen to promote some new buzzword describing new gameplay or graphical improvement each and every year, and this year it’s no different. For Madden NFL 23 They’re pitching something called FieldSENSE as a new animation/gameplay system that lets you affect tackle piles in unique ways. How much of it is real, and how much of it is marketing? If you end up playing Madden NFL 23, let us know.
Midnight Fight Express
Release Date: 23 August 2022
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One,
Ever since the John Wick films came out, there have been plenty of games trying to capture the action of John Wick – including a John Wick turn-based strategy game from Thomas Was Alone creator Mike Bithell. But Midnight Fight Express is taking the real-time action route, with lots of frenetic street brawling and parrying as your solo protagonist takes on a seemingly endless amount of enemies.
There’s a big focus on using the environment around you, and a surprising amount of gunplay. We were pretty taken by the demo released for the game during Summer Game Fest, so we’re looking to see what other ideas it has up its sleeve.
Saints Row
Release Date: 23 August 2022
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
The modern reboot of the Saints Row series of open-world crime action games is set to be finally released to the world, and despite a series of new characters, it looks to capture the same lighthearted tone of the original series.
Read: Saints Row looks like the same old game for a new generation
Where Grand Theft Auto took its humour and satire pretty seriously, Saints Row went over the topic, with ridiculous weapons, unreal methods of traversal, and a focus on creative freedom. The marketing for the game has been pretty heavily geared towards the high degree of customisation you can apply to your character, vehicles, and guns. However, we’re more interested to see whether this remake tries to do anything new with the genre. Hesitations aside, Saints Row is one of the more high-profile game releases this month.
Pac-Man World Re-Pac
Release Date: 26 August 2022
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S,
This one is a bit of a weird one – Bandai Namco recently announced that they were remaking a 1999 3D platforming game starring Pac-Man. We’re personally not sure whether this one really has the devout fanbase that warrants a remake, but given that we thought the Klonoa remake was a great way to reintroduce a severely underrated platforming game, we’ll give this one the benefit of the doubt.
A neat bit of trivia is that this game will mark the appearance of Pac-Mom, who replaces the iconic Ms. Pac-Man after a long, messy rights dispute. How will this affect the sacred lore of Pac-Man? I guess there’s only one way to find out!
Soul Hackers 2
Release Date: 26 August 2022
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
The Shin Megami Tensei series of Japanese role-playing games has several different spin-offs, each exploring different themes while maintaining the core mechanics of demon summoning and a turn-based combat system focussed on exploiting weaknesses. The most notable one is the Persona series, whose focus lies in telling stories about the lives of high-school students, but there’s also Soul Hackers, which focuses on high-tech, far-future sci-fi themes.
Soul Hackers 2 is actually the first Shin Megami Tensei game that will debut on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S generation of consoles. It revolves around mythical beings that are born from, as far as we can tell, the internet. They’re on a mission to save a cataclysmic event, and probably to defeat some kind of world-creating god. That’s how these games usually go. I can’t get enough of them, personally.
Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed
Release Date: 30 August 2022
Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
The Destroy All Humans series and its parody of 1960s and 1970s alien invasion films were a hit during the PlayStation 2 and Xbox era. Since their rights were bought up by THQ Nordic in recent years, they’ve been gradually getting remastered for modern platforms. This one’s a remaster of the second game, naturally.
We’re quite fond of Destroy All Humans, partly because it was developed by Pandemic Studios in Brisbane, Australia, and it reminds us of the time when there were several big studios operating in the country. Nevertheless, it’ll be interesting to see how this one has held up over time.
Immortality
Release Date: 30 August 2022
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, iOS, Android
From Sam Barlow, the creator of the non-linear narrative mystery games Her Story and Telling Lies comes Immortality, and we can’t wait. The premise in Immortality is that an actress has mysteriously disappeared, and by watching and closely examining footage from never-before-seen films she started in, you’ll piece together the clues to solve the mystery.
It’ll involve scrubbing through films and behind-the-scenes footage involving the actress, and if Sam Barlow’s previous games are anything to go by, Immortality is sure to be a compelling story with plenty of unexpected twists and turns. This is definitely one of our most anticipated game releases this month.
Inscryption
Release Date: 30 August 2022
Platforms: PS4, PS5
Inscryption was one of our favourite games from 2021, and also won several awards that year. Rightly so – the game, which appears to just be a spooky card game at first, is actually so much more. With a number of surprising moments that can catch you unawares, it’s certainly a game that’s better experienced for the first time knowing almost nothing about it – and hopefully that’s what plenty of PlayStation owners will do when it arrives on consoles for the first time.
Personally, I’m curious to see how some of the game’s more PC-specific details are translated to the console version. If you know what I mean, you know what I mean.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection
Release Date: 30 August 2022
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S,
When Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge was released in July 2022, we were very surprised by how that game managed to capture the spirit of the retro Ninja Turtles beat-em-up arcade games, while adding new mechanics and complexities to keep things interesting for modern sensibilities.
Publisher Konami seems to have timed this re-release collection quite perfectly, letting us experience the original games on modern consoles. Where these games certainly have a lot of fans, and created plenty of fond arcade memories back when they were released, it’ll be interesting to see how they hold up in modern times, especially in the wake of Shredder’s Revenge. After all, these games were designed to make you keep throwing money in the machine.
Nevertheless, this is a good collection of several Ninja Turtles games that plenty of millennials and Gen-Xers grew up playing, and are worth preserving to both reminisce and see how far we’ve come.
Did we miss any of your highly-anticipated game releases this month? Let us know by shouting at us on Twitter.
