Games Released in October 1996

122 new games debuted in October 1996, with PlayStation being the most active platform. October 31 was the busiest day, with 38 releases. Pokémon Blue Version was the most popular release of the month.

Which days had the most releases?

October 31 saw the most activity with 38 releases.

38 releases

October 31

22 releases

October 4

20 releases

October 25

17 releases

October 18

SunMonTueWedThuFriSat

Tue, Oct 1

13 releases

Wed, Oct 2

1 release

Thu, Oct 3

2 releases

Fri, Oct 4

22 releases

Sat, Oct 5

1 release

Sun, Oct 6

1 release

Mon, Oct 7

2 releases

Tue, Oct 8

1 release

Wed, Oct 9

2 releases

Thu, Oct 10

11 releases

Fri, Oct 11

1 release

Sat, Oct 12

No releases

Sun, Oct 13

1 release

Mon, Oct 14

1 release

Tue, Oct 15

4 releases

Wed, Oct 16

2 releases

Thu, Oct 17

4 releases

Fri, Oct 18

17 releases

Sat, Oct 19

2 releases

Sun, Oct 20

No releases

Mon, Oct 21

No releases

Tue, Oct 22

No releases

Wed, Oct 23

1 release

Thu, Oct 24

1 release

Fri, Oct 25

20 releases

Sat, Oct 26

4 releases

Sun, Oct 27

No releases

Mon, Oct 28

1 release

Tue, Oct 29

3 releases

Wed, Oct 30

6 releases

Thu, Oct 31

38 releases

How did each week compare?

The fifth week of October was the busiest with 47 releases.

Week 1 (October 1–7)

42 releases

Most popular release in Week 1

Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars

Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Jon Van Caneghem through New World Computing and published in 1996 by the 3DO Company. The game is the second installment of the Heroes of Might and Magic series and is typically credited as the breakout game for the series. Heroes II was voted the sixth-best PC game of all time by PC Gamer in May 1997.

Week 2 (October 8–14)

17 releases

Most popular release in Week 2

Circle of Blood

Circle of Blood is a 2D adventure game played from a third-person perspective. The player uses a point-and-click interface to interact with the environment and to guide protagonist George Stobbart through the game's world. To solve puzzles and progress in the game, the player collects items that may be combined with one another, used on the environment, or given to non-player characters. The protagonist converses with NPCs via dialogue trees presented through "conversation icons" to learn about the game's puzzles and plot. Clues and other information are obtained by clicking on items in the inventory and on objects in the environment. The player navigates with a map, to which new locations are added as the story unfolds. Unlike in most adventure games at the time, the protagonist's death is possible, after which the player starts from the last save point.

Week 3 (October 15–21)

29 releases

Most popular release in Week 3

Pokémon Blue Version

Pokémon Blue is the third core series Pokémon game released as a minor revision of Pokémon Red and Green, which were released earlier that year. It was thus the first solitary version in the core series of Pokémon games. Various fixes in the game include a graphics and sound upgrade, as well as the removal of several known glitches that had been found in the original pair. Outside of Japan, its graphics, game engine and script formed the basis of Pokémon Red and Blue, while the wild Pokémon and game-exclusive Pokémon lists were changed to match Red and Green.

Week 4 (October 22–28)

27 releases

Most popular release in Week 4

Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider is a 3D action game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. The game follows the exploits of Lara Croft, a British female archaeologist in search of ancient treasures. The objective of Tomb Raider is to guide Lara through a series of tombs and other locations in search of treasures and artifacts. On the way, she must kill dangerous animals and other creatures, while collecting objects and solving puzzles to gain access to an ultimate prize, usually a powerful artifact. The game was critically acclaimed and widely influential, it spawned a number of sequels and a franchise of related media.

Week 5 (October 29–31)

47 releases

Most popular release in Week 5

The Neverhood

The game follows the adventure of a claymation character named Klaymen as he discovers his origins and his purpose in a world made entirely out of clay.

Which platforms saw the most releases?

PlayStation received 64 new titles in October 1996. The runner up was PC with 48 new titles.

PlayStation64 releases

PC48 releases

Sega Saturn25 releases

DOS11 releases

Mac11 releases

Arcade4 releases

Game Boy4 releases

Super Famicom4 releases

Super Nintendo Entertainment System3 releases

FM Towns2 releases

What genres were most popular?

Adventure was the dominant genre in October 1996 with 32 titles. Shooter followed closely with 32.

Adventure32

Shooter32

Simulator23

Puzzle21

Sport19

Strategy19

Fighting15

Platform14

Arcade13

Racing13

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