Android Gaming Headlines and Updates:

Just as you can see Christmas coming a mile off in the real world thanks to all the decorations in the shops and the Christmas tunes on the radio and the festive office parties, you can see it in the mobile gaming world through all the updates and events.

Genshin Impact, PUBG Mobile, and SINoALICE are all celebrating the season of goodwill in their latest (and forthcoming) upates, while Gwent is just celebrating, well, being Gwent, in its massive Way of the Witcher update.

To check out the best new Android games and sales of the week, head to the Saturday companion to this article.

Headlines

Just in time for Christmas, Genshin Impact is set to receive its second major content update. Version 1.2 will add a whole new region to the game – an inhospitably icy area called Dragonspine, where you’ll find new creatures, rare artifacts, recipes for 4-star weapons, and a lost civilisation. Two new 5-star characters will be added to the mix, too.

Square Enix made a splash a few years ago with a couple of hugely inventive, puzzle game spin-offs of its big console and PC action franchises. Just Cause: Mobile looks like a more conventional mobile reimagining, retaining the action and explosions but placing it in a top-down context. Still, it should be good.

KOTOR – or Knights of the Old Republic, for those who don’t know – is one of the best RPGs on mobile, so we’re excited to play its sequel next week. KOTOR II came out a year after KOTOR, in 2004, and was criticised by some for being too similar to its predecessor. That sounds like a compliment to us.

Updates

The Frost Festival has arrived in PUBG Mobile, meaning a festive makeover for the Eragel map. You’ll find three randomly spawning frost castles, icy zones, snowy monuments, and more. Plus, there’s a new snowboard vehicle, allowing you to traverse the tundra in double-quick time.

SINoALICE, the popular RPG from NiER creator Yoko Taro, is joining in the festive fun with an event of its own. The X-mas Feast event lasts throughout December, and adds the Starry Night STEP grimoire to the game, letting you take a step forward for each character you summon. New weapons, story arcs, and co-op guild events round out the yuletide hijinks.

The latest Gwent: The Witcher Card Game update is a doozy. It’s called the Way of the Witcher, and it adds a massive 70 new cards – ten for each faction, plus ten neutrals. A new Adrenaline system, meanwhile, injects a dose of nuance into the gameplay by giving you additional effects depending on how many of a given card type you have in your hand.

There’s nothing festive at all about the latest Harry Potter: Wizards Unite update, which adds Adversaries to the mix. That means you can take on notable villains from the Harry Potter saga, as ever, via your phone’s camera, Pokemon GO-style. These adversaries include Fenrir Greyback, Draco Malfoy, Ballatrix Lestrange, and more.