Friday 22nd March is set to be a huge day for the gaming industry thanks to three high profile titles launching at the same time. High profile video game releases tend to be spread out to avoid cannibalising one another’s sales, but there are times when companies release games on the same day. Notably, this has already happened one other time in 2024, when two of the year’s biggest games were released on the same day in January.

On 26th January, Bandai Namco released the critically-acclaimed Tekken 8, while Sega published Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth to similar rave reviews. While there may have been some concern that the games would hurt each other’s sales, that doesn’t seem to have been the case, and both titles have been a success. There’s no denying that 26th January was an incredibly busy day for the gaming industry, but its looking like 22nd March may it beat.

Whereas two huge games released on the same day on 26th January, 22nd March is home to three major titles: PS5 exclusive Rise of the Ronin, Nintendo Switch exclusive Princess Peach: Showtime, and multi-platform game Dragon’s Dogma 2. All three games have the potential to be hit titles, though the jury is still out on their overall quality.

Rise of the Ronin

Rise of the Ronin is an open world samurai game with co-op support, developed by Team Ninja as a PS5 exclusive. Team Ninja’s reputation speaks for itself and Rise of the Ronin has looked impressive so far, and if all goes according to plan, it will be another big PS5 exclusive game come its 22nd March launch.

Platform(s): PS5

Released: 22nd March 2024

Developer(s): Team Ninja

Publisher(s): Sony Interactive Entertainment

Genre(s): Action RPG

Princess Peach: Showtime

Nintendo Switch gamers, meanwhile, can look forward to Princess Peach: Showtime on 22nd March.  Princess Peach: Showtime is the first time in nearly two decades that Peach has been given the starring role in a video game; the last time it happened was in Super Princess Peach on the Nintendo DS all the way back in 2005.  Princess Peach: Showtime features a unique costume-changing mechanic that gives Peach special abilities, and trailers for the game have looked very impressive so far.

Franchise: Super Mario

Platform(s): Switch

Released: 22nd March 2024

Developer(s): Nintendo

Publisher(s): Nintendo

Genre(s): Action-Adventure

Dragon’s Dogma 2

Dragon’s Dogma 2, will be available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. The long-awaited follow-up to the fan favourite Dragon’s Dogma, Dragon’s Dogma 2 looks to provide a similar fantasy experience of having players face off against formidable monsters in an open world, but with various enhancements and upgrades that take advantage of the latest gaming hardware. Between Dragon’s Dogma 2, Princess Peach: Showtime, and Rise of the Ronin, it seems like there’s something for gamers of all kinds come 22nd March.

Platform(s): PC , PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S

Released: 22nd March 2024

Developer(s): Capcom

Publisher(s): Capcom

Genre(s): Action RPG

Engine: RE Engine

Major New Game Releases for March 2024

• Expeditions: A MudRunner Game – March 5
• The Outlast Trials – March 5
• Unicorn Overlord – March 8
• WWE 2K24 – March 8
• Contra: Operation Galuga – March 12
• MLB The Show 24 – March 19
• Alone in the Dark – March 20
• Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile – March 21
• Dragon’s Dogma 2 – March 22
• Princess Peach: Showtime – March 22
• Rise of the Ronin – March 22
• South Park: Snow Day – March 26
• Open Roads – March 28