We’ve already gone over the fall (September and October) releases, and now it’s time for the final chord of the year. December is not only a time of gifts and New Year’s Eve bustle, but also a time when gamers summarize the year, catch up on what they missed, and, of course, discover new releases. Right now, projects are coming out that can be the perfect companion for the holiday season – some people are looking for a plot, others want adrenaline or just a good story with a cup of cocoa in hand. And in this issue, TechnoVisor has collected all the most interesting things for you.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion
Release date: December 1
Genre: cooperative action
Platforms: PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, Switch 2
A holiday for those who grew up in arcades with arcade machines. Marvel Cosmic Invasion is essentially a classic scrolling beat’em up from Dotemu and Tribute Games, the studios that have already revived the genre with TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge. Here, fifteen Marvel heroes join the fray at once, from Captain America and Spider-Man to more cosmic characters.
The levels are short, the impact is hard to feel, and the game is best played in cooperative mode – locally or online. If you want something simple but very stylish for an evening with friends, this release is worth keeping in mind.
P.S Beat ’em up is a genre of video games in which the player fights against a large number of opponents using melee attacks. The main mechanic is to defeat waves of enemies by moving through levels, which often have the form of scrolling (moving sideways)
Sleep Awake
Release date: December 2
Genre: first-person horror
Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Blumhouse Games, usually associated with horror movies, is now entering our dreams. Sleep Awake takes the player to the last city on earth, where the mysterious phenomenon The Hush destroys everyone who falls asleep. You play as Katya, who is trying to survive in a city that is slowly going crazy with the fear of sleep.
The gameplay is based on a mixture of stealth, exploration, and surreal episodes – the city is constantly floating before your eyes, and hallucinations mix with reality. Who needs Christmas lights when you have neon, night streets, and the feeling that it’s better not to blink?
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
Release date: December 4
Genre: first-person sci-fi action/adventure shooter
Platforms: Switch, Switch 2
After 18 years of waiting, Samus Aren is finally back in full Metroid Prime. Beyond sends the bounty hunter to the new planet Viewros, where semi-open areas, a motorcycle, fresh abilities, and, of course, old familiar enemies like Sylux appear.
The Switch 2 version boasts support for higher resolution and higher frame rates, but the spirit of the series is the same: lonely exploration of an alien planet, mazes, secret passages, and gradual character enhancement through the modules you find. It’s perfect for hanging out on long winter evenings.
Octopath Traveler 0
Release date: December 4
Genre: JRPG / turn-based role-playing game
Platforms: Switch, Switch 2, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Square Enix returns to its 2D-HD magic. Octopath Traveler 0 is a prequel to the original game that tells the story of revenge and restoration of the world around the divine rings. There are several protagonists here again, but this time you are also rebuilding your hometown, which suffered from the war.
More than thirty playable characters, parties of up to eight heroes, and a familiar battle system with breaking enemies through weaknesses make the game a great option for those who like slow, story-driven adventures with tons of dialog and tactical combat. The perfect opposite of the New Year’s hustle and bustle.
Elden Ring: Nightreign – The Forsaken Hollows (DLC)
Release date: December 3-4 (depending on the region)
Genre: action-RPG add-on
Platforms: the same as Elden Ring: Nightreign
If the basic Nightreign didn’t seem painful enough for you, the FromSoftware expansion has a few surprises. It adds two new night travelers, new third-day bosses, fresh monsters, and the Shifting Earth mechanic – changing land areas that open up entire new areas. This isn’t just a “just a few more dungeons” pack: The DLC promises a separate story with new characters and many secrets for those who have already cleared the base game to the last crack on the map. It’s a good reason to return to Limeweld if you’re itching to pick up a sword (or magic wand) and go suffer.
Routine
Release date: December 4
Genre: survival horror
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (including Game Pass subscription)
A story thirteen years in the making is finally coming to release. Routine is a chamber sci-fi horror set on an abandoned lunar base in the aesthetics of 80s futurism. Old monitors, rattling cassettes, corridors with dead lamps – and no certainty that there will be no one around the next corner.
The video game relies not so much on screencasts as on a tense atmosphere and exploration. Armed only with the multifunctional gadget CAT, the hero is looking for answers while the station slowly turns into a deadly maze with aggressive robots. For fans of slow, but very nervous horror, this is the one.
Skate Story
Release date: December 8
Genre: skateboarding/adventure game
Platforms: PC, PS5, Switch 2
If you want something more meditative from the constant battles and horror, check out Skate Story. In the game, you are a demon made of glass and pain who skateboards in the underworld. The devil gives you a simple task: “reach the moon and swallow it, and then you’ll be free.”
Everything is based on the feeling of the board underfoot: the right weight, inertia, tricks. Surrealistic landscapes and a melancholic soundtrack are in the background. This is not a competition simulator, but rather a strange, beautiful journey where skateboarding becomes a form of therapy.
Montezuma’s Revenge – The 40th Anniversary Edition
Release date: December 10
Genre: platformer
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch
The 1983 classic is back in 2.5D. In Montezuma’s Revenge – The 40th Anniversary Edition, you once again play as Pedro, who climbs pyramids, jumps over spiked pits, and collects treasures. But now with fresh graphics, redesigned animations, hundreds of rooms, and more beginner-friendly controls.
The remaster doesn’t try to be something more than it is: it’s an honest retro platformer where a mistake is punished by falling into a pit, and success is rewarded with an even more difficult room.
Code Violet
Release date: formally January 10, 2026 (originally planned for release on December 12, 2025, but the game was postponed)
Genre: third-person action/survival horror
Platforms: PS5 (exclusive)
Although Code Violet’s release was eventually pushed back to January, it was long perceived as one of the main December releases, so it’s impossible to ignore it. It’s a dinosaur survival horror from TeamKill Media that will feel like a mix of Dino Crisis and Stellar Blade.
The story takes place in the 25th century. The Earth was destroyed by a cataclysmic event, and humanity moved to the planet Trappist-1e, but the Aion colony faced another problem: people became infertile. The solution is found in a dark scheme where they use time technology to kidnap women from the past to become surrogate mothers. You play as Violet Sinclair, one of these girls, who wakes up in the Aion bioengineering complex filled with aggressive dinosaurs and armed guards.
The gameplay is based on a combination of intense shootouts and survival – limited resources, inventory management, puzzles, stealth, and a constant feeling that something is rustling around the corner. The developers rely on visuals with raytracing, 3D audio, and shots and blows perceptible through DualSense – this should be the case when every dinosaur roar makes you instinctively grip the gamepad harder.
The end of the year is always a time of respite and recap, but for gamers, December also means new stories to dive into while the snow is falling outside. It’s a great time to slow down a bit, enjoy your favorite genre, and remember why we love games in the first place – for the ability to literally enter another world.
