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The spring calendar slows down, but still brings heavy hitters in Minecraft, Star Wars, and sports
April’s calendar of major video game releases is bookended by two major Electronic Arts releases: the return of EA Sports PGA Tour after a decade, and Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the second chapter extending the story of the disbanded and dispersed Jedi Knights, on the run and hunted down “one by one,” as Obi-Wan Kenobi told us almost 50 years ago.
Players also finally get Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp, originally due to launch last year at this time but shelved because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing conflict there. Minecraft Legends, an “action-strategy” adaptation of Mojang’s franchise, also highlights the month’s launches. Here are April’s major releases for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
April 4
GrimGrimoire OnceMore
(Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5)
Creed Rise to Glory: Championship Edition
(PlayStation VR 2)
April 6
Across the Valley
(PlayStation VR 2)
Image: EA Tiburon/Electronic Arts
April 7
EA Sports PGA Tour
(PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X)
Yes, it’s golf, yes, this is a country club sport, yes, it reminds everyone of their grandfathers, plaid pants, and Rodney Dangerfield. But it’s still A Tradition Unlike Any Other. The Masters, returning to video games for the first time since 2013.
April 11
Tron: Identity
(Nintendo Switch, Windows PC)
The video game-inspired realm of Disney’s Tron franchise still delivers new adaptations to consoles and PC 40 years after the first film’s release. Tron: Identity, by Bithell Games (Mike Bithell, best known for Thomas Was Alone) is a visual novel with puzzle-solving mechanics, in which players are a computer program investigating a mystery inside an all-new Grid.
April 14
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection
(Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC)
April 18
Minecraft Legends
(Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X)
Though it resembles a real-time strategy simulator, Mojang is hoping that Minecraft’s format and reputation make it accessible to players who would otherwise not try the genre. Our preview from Minecraft Live last October spelled out the game’s ambitions: “You’ll gather resources, build structures, and gather armies, but the way you do those things is like playing Minecraft on a large scale, rather than a more traditional RTS.”
Image: Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver
April 21
Dead Island 2
(PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X)
Dead Island 2 comes a dozen years after its predecessor, and it isn’t made by the same studio (Techland, which found a stronger audience with Dying Light and its sequel). In fact, the repeatedly delayed project has wound its way through three studios, almost nine years after it was originally announced. These aren’t what many would consider predictors of success, but fans of zombie survival horror still have hope.
Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp
(Nintendo Switch)
April 28
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
(PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X)
Respawn’s series proves a couple of long-running truths about both video games and Star Wars: Old-school, single-player action-adventure narratives still find a big audience, and the stories set right before, or right after, the Original Trilogy still scratch the most itches for longtime fans. Cal Kestis, the Padawan forced into — and out of — hiding by the Empire’s brutal inquisition, comes back for the second chapter of the Jedis’ return.
April TBA
Star Trek: Resurgence
(PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X)
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