Release Calendar

The one people argue about, and we came down on the side of the volcano — the back half turns into a gothic haunted-house film with a raptor in the hallway.

Battleship, Big Daddy, the full Jaws run and both Alien and Aliens land in one go.

The best single day of the month and almost nobody is talking about it: all six Rocky films, all three Creed films, plus Deep Impact and Machete Kills.

The family recommendation we would push hardest this month: Laika's stop-motion ghost story treats being an outsider as something other than a third-act problem.

All three seasons retold as comedy in brick form — the version you put on when the seven-year-old wants what dad is watching, minus the Dark Troopers.

The headline of the month and it is not close — a film that works because it stays small and never pretends to be a saga entry.

Dark-fantasy vampire RPG from Rebel Wolves, the studio ex-Witcher leads founded. Human by day, vampire by night, in 14th-century Europe.

Guy Ritchie's crime series returns with Theo James and Kaya Scodelario — the first of two Ritchie-adjacent crime dramas this month.

The annual fixture. Deluxe and Ultra buyers got in on 26 August; this is the date everyone else plays.

The first new Onimusha in over twenty years, and Capcom moved it three weeks FORWARD rather than back. Musashi in an Edo-era Kyoto.

The wildcard: Ryan Reynolds at full motor-mouth against Kenneth Branagh's ex-KGB agent playing it completely straight.

Both on the same Friday, which makes for an easy weekend. No Way Home rewards a rewatch more than it did a first watch.

Five years in early access and finally 1.0, with the Deep North biome, PS5 and Switch 2 versions, and full crossplay between all of them.

Open-world Hot Wheels across four islands, with track building. Moved forward from 24 September, and the most kid-shaped thing all month.

Included with a caveat rather than enthusiasm: a committed Aaron Taylor-Johnson stuck in a film that never decides what it is. Worth a Sunday evening, not a night you were saving.

Insomniac's Wolverine, and the one your kid will ask about. Mature-rated — we wrote the age guide precisely because that question was coming.

Not a launch: the Switch 2 edition of the management sim with everything bundled. Digital on the 16th, physical follows 6 November.

The one Reacher fans have been waiting three seasons for — all eight episodes at once, and the smartest thing it can do is resist becoming Ritchson's show.

The other genuine event of the month: six episodes adapting Joe Country and Slough House, the books where the series walks into its own history. Six seasons in, it has never had a bad one.

Four protagonists, four routes, and the first Fire Emblem built for Switch 2. The month's biggest Nintendo release by a distance.

The reliable one. Twenty-nine seasons in and still willing to say the thing everyone else is tiptoeing around. (Comedy Central the night before.)

Ten episodes under half an hour each. The short runtime is the feature — watchable with a ten-year-old on a school night.

Not a launch: out since 22 May on PS5, Xbox and PC. This is the Switch 2 version, landing with the Mayhem Collection DLC that adds playable Joker and Harley.

Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren all back for ten episodes, weekly on Fridays through November 20.

The console release, with a single-player mode arriving the same day on every platform. Day one on Game Pass.

The biggest arrival on the list by some distance. We have not reviewed it, so no verdict from us yet — but the series hub runs the first four in order.

Remedy's sequel to Control, worldwide on the 24th. Mac follows later in the year.

Not a launch: the Switch 2 edition of the 2D revival, digital and physical.

A full-length, self-contained psychological horror set in Scotland, from Screen Burn with Annapurna and Konami. Not a remake and not a side story.

The annual fixture. Ultimate and Ultimate Plus editions open a week early, on the 18th.

Mojang's dungeon crawler sequel, day one on Game Pass. Four-player co-op and no building — the Minecraft a seven-year-old can play alongside you without a tutorial.

A free upgrade if you already own it, plus a native Switch 2 version. Announced at gamescom Opening Night Live five weeks before release.

The one we are most curious about: LEGO's One Piece theme launched this summer, and an animated adaptation three months later is either very good timing or a very obvious tie-in.