Barbie Gets Stylish, Metal Goes to Space, and Nintendo Gets Busy

From a fashion-focused virtual world to an arcade title to a cozy life simulation, this week’s gaming launches span a wide range of play styles and platforms. 

Mattel Game Studios, Roblox, and developer Exclusible have launched Barbie DreamStyle, a new fashion styling experience that lets players create looks, compete in themed challenges, and vote on other players’ designs. Developed with Roblox designer Dioncella, the experience features more than 260 customizable outfits, six scenes at launch, 50-plus theme challenges, a social hub, and Photo Mode, and allows players to team up with up to three friends. Barbie DreamStyle is available now on Roblox.

Space Metal Mania blasts off today; it combines fast-paced arcade action with a heavy metal soundtrack, sending players through waves of aliens, massive bosses and increasingly challenging encounters as they work to reclaim occupied territories.

The game features rogue-lite elements, customizable ships, multiple difficulty levels and branching routes, with solo play or up to four-player couch co-op using controllers and phones in the same session. 

Music is central to the experience, with enemy waves, attacks and boss patterns designed around tracks from Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Mastodon, Avenged Sevenfold and Pantera. Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine also voices the game’s Commander, guiding players through the galaxy as they blast through enemies and fight to the beat.

Available now on Amazon Luna, Space Metal Mania requires no console or gaming PC, and Prime members can play at no additional cost.

Brawl Stars and Duolingo take their ongoing mascot rivalry into a new global in-app collaboration, with Duo and Spike invading each other’s worlds through Sept. 30. Players can take on a new 20v1 Boss Fight against increasingly powerful versions of Duo in Brawl Stars, complete daily assignments, and earn exclusive rewards, while Duolingo users can participate in a limited-time streak-based Quest featuring Spike. The crossover gives fans new ways to interact with the two iconic mascots while extending their playful rivalry across both mobile apps.

After four years of development, Qloud Games’ cozy life-sim MMO Loftia will launch into Early Access Nov. 3 for PC and Mac via Steam and Epic Games Store. Set across a world of floating islands, the game emphasizes cooperation, sustainability, creativity, and community as players build homes, farm, rescue animals, take on cooperative adventures, and contribute to large-scale projects. The launch follows a $1.3 million Kickstarter campaign backed by 17,000 players and a Closed Beta that drew nearly 25,000 participants, with community feedback helping shape the game ahead of Early Access.

Football, fantasy, and action are taking over Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch this week, with EA SPORTS FC 27 arriving Sept. 25 alongside preorders for Minecraft Dungeons II and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered. EA SPORTS FC 27 introduces The Grounds, a new social football playground, while The Witcher 3 gets a modernized version for Switch 2 with enhanced visuals, performance, and gameplay features.

Players can also take Prince of Persia The Lost Crown for a spin at no additional cost through a limited-time Game Trial for Nintendo Switch Online members, running through Sept. 30. Meanwhile, WarioWare: Move It! joins the Nintendo Music lineup, the My Nintendo Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave Heroic Sweepstakes offers fans a chance to win themed prizes, and dozens of additional games are landing across the two eShop storefronts, including Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, Absolum, Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age — Definitive Edition and The Room series.