The Video Game Library Newsletter - Vol. #031
The most global week of announcements and releases yet!
Welcome back to The Video Game Library Newsletter!
We’re only a few short weeks away from the holidays, which means two things:
1. My “2025 still-to-read” pile is once again proving that I read too damn slowly.
2. Publishers are geared up for the Holiday sales and announcing some great projects.
On top of that, The Game Awards have officially wrapped up, and I’ve got to say, I had a REALLY great time watching this year’s show (go E33!!!). I loved the announcements, and it was especially awesome seeing how much spotlighting there was for indie games. It’s got me thinking I might do a fun little write-up soon that pulls together books tied to this year’s nominees. Let me know if that’s something you’d like to see.
As for this week’s newsletter, it’s perhaps the most global lineup of releases we’ve had to date. We’ve got a ton of translation releases across 4 continents, a strong week from VIZ Media with Persona, Pokémon, and Minecraft, and some fresh magazine goodness for the holidays.
If you’re here to find your next read or that perfect gift, you picked a good week to check in no matter where you live in the world. Let’s get into it.
📰 News & Highlights
Marvel vs. Capcom: Ultimate Complete Works is out! Fans of this crossover can finally shelve a definitive celebration of the series, packed with artwork and archival goodness. Nearly 150 pages larger than its “Official Complete Works” original release, if you love seeing how character designs and key visuals evolved across eras, this is the perfect “coffee table book” for the holidays.
More than a year after the Japanese launch, English readers can jump back into the Phantom Thieves’ story with Volume 14 of the Persona 5 manga. With only one volume left to translate, the finish line for the full English run is now in sight thanks to VIZ Media.
Also from VIZ Media this week, Pokémon: Sword and Shield - Vol. 14 hits shelves. The time has come for the legendary Zacian and Zamazenta, as well as the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield, to change into their true forms and prepare for the rematch to end all rematches…
And finishing off the trilogy of releases from VIZ Media, Minecraft: The Manga - Vol. 4 finally gets its English debut. This manga series has been popping its head up everywhere lately, and you’ll actually find it featured in 2 more news headlines from different corners of the globe in this week’s roundup.
An upcoming accessible guide to historical GameStudies called Writing Game Histories got an official cover reveal. Slated for a May 2026 launch, this book explores how games represent, shape, and create history across digital and analogue forms. I am VERY interested in checking this one out.
For PC gaming fans PC Gamer #417 (UK) / PC Gamer #405 (US) released this past week. This issue offers a world-exclusive deep dive into Dinolords, a wildly inventive RTS mixing medieval warfare and dinosaurs, plus hands-on insights from the developers. It also crowns the winners of PC Gamer’s Game of the Year Awards, alongside previews, reviews, and hardware testing.
CCXP 2025 just wrapped up in São Paulo this past week, and there with some big announcements was Panini. First off, they announced the Portuguese translation of Resident Evil: Dead Island for the Brazil market. Which reminds me, I gotta get this one catalogued on our site.
And of course, hopping on the Minecraft bandwagon, they’ve also announced that they’ll be releasing Portuguese editions of the full Minecraft: The Manga series, originally released in Japan by CoroCoro Comics - joining the ranks of several other languages.
RBA releases in Italy continue to hit shelves each week, with the latest being Devil May Cry: L’action 3D Sale di Livello. Between this book and Evanescence’s performance at The Game Awards this week, I’m reminded that I still have to check out the streaming series.
Also released this week for Italian readers, is Elden Ring – La Via per l’Albero Madre 8. Great to see the Italian editions of this manga run consistently following so close behind the Japanese releases.
In Germany this week, Minecraft 08: Eine Reise zum Ende der Welt hit shelves. The German translations of these manga continue to lead the pack, with all remaining entries in the 12-volume run slated with release dates into early 2026. Easily one of the most translated series we’ve catalogued on the site.
For Polish readers, Minecraft: Brukowe serce Tom 1 just released this week. A Minecraft graphic novel where farmer Cobb builds a sky tower, joins cloud hermits, and learns peace still comes with neighbors to protect.
Christie Golden’s World of Warcraft: Before the Storm got a Turkish translation this week thanks to Epsilon Yayinevi. World Of Warcraft – Fırtına Öncesi.
Ukraine joins the latest Dark Souls: Redemption translations with Dark Souls: Спокута. Том 2. Жульєн Блондель from MALʼOPUS. Dark Souls manga keeps expanding its language footprint, and this release adds Ukrainian readers to the growing global audience.
In other translation news, Russian publisher Бомбора has a trilogy of translated releases. Как пишут игры is a localization of Hannah Nicklin’s “Writing For Games: Theory & Practice”, an intro guide to writing for indie games, blending theory, case studies, and practical exercises to build a lifelong games writing practice.
Next from Бомбора comes Мифология ELDEN RING. Дар благодати, the Russian translation of Geoff Truscott’s Grace Given: The Mythology of Elden Ring. A comprehensive deep dive into the mythology underpinning Miyazaki’s masterpiece.
And finally, Бомбора gives us a Russian translation of Héroes de Papel’s “Final Round: El Legado de Street Fighter” (Наследие Street Fighter. Финальный раунд). A comprehensive history of Street Fighter, covering 30 years of games, characters, adaptations, and media in one definitive franchise study.
Epic Seven Official Artworks - Vol. 3 is officially out this week in Korea, with an English edition scheduled for next April. I haven’t played this mobile RPG, but it’s great to see how much literary love it’s been getting. This entry was published to celebrate the game’s 7th anniversary.
New from Yuzumo Design, 40 Years of Space Harrier has officially released! It contains details on all the various versions and ports of the game, and also includes an interview with people involved with the production of the game.
Let’s wrap things up with some Japanese magazines that launched this week, starting with Weekly Famitsu (週刊ファミ通 2025年12月25日号 No.1927) which has a gorgeous cover art mashup of Final Fantasy IX and Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space.
…As well as the monthly Comtiq - January 2026 which features articles on Fate/Grand Order, (Game Award Winning) UmaMusume: Pretty Derby, and more!
Did I miss something cool? Want to see this laid out differently?
Drop it in the comments or swing by our Discord to share it with the community.
Let’s keep this celebration of game-inspired books going strong!
📚 Behind the Shelves
Every week, I take you behind the scenes of The Video Game Library. From surprising discoveries to cataloguing challenges, there’s always something new as we dig deeper into this ever-expanding archive of game-related literature.
First up: a big welcome to our newest volunteer, Nathanial! He’s started the week strong by diving straight into cataloguing our Pokémon manga backlog, helping us tighten up volume coverage, confirm release details, and keep series runs clean and consistent.
Over on the volunteer team as well, Leslie managed to get even more entries from Anaya Multimedia added and organized. I’ve been trying for over a year to get in touch with the publisher to secure higher-quality cover images and clarify a few lingering book details, but so far it’s been radio silence across every channel I’ve tried.
On my end, while I’ve been pretty deep this week in adding translated editions to existing records (and making sure language variants are properly tagged), I did manage to catalogue the Killer7 comic series on the site. I enjoyed the game a lot, but I had no idea there was a comic run.
And one more shoutout goes to Read-Only Memory! Their Oral History of Guitar Hero, Rock Band and the Music Game Boom just arrived. I was deep into rhythm games during that era, so I couldn’t resist putting together a quick display to celebrate the book.
This, as usual, is only a small sample of all the things that have been happening behind the scenes, so take a peek at the site to see everything that’s been added since last week! And while you’re at it, drop your thoughts in the comments below. Your feedback helps shape how we deliver these looks behind the curtain.
💡 Book Spotlights
Every week I like to zoom in on a few standout books from the collection. Sometimes it’s brand new releases, other times it’s older gems that deserve more love.
If you’re looking for deeper dives and not just quick headlines, check out some of these spotlights from this past month:
BOOK SPOTLIGHT - REDO FROM START (USA & JAPAN)
Andrea Pachetti (2025); Microzeit Publishing; Non-Fiction, Game History
"I had originally intended to start with the CRACKER books, but Paul Norman’s eyes….they drew me in."
BOOK SPOTLIGHT - A Brief Legal History of the Video Game (Une Brève Histoire Juridique du Jeu Video)
Geoffray Brunaux (2025); Mare & Martin; Non-Fiction, Game History
"...sets out to recount the history of the video game industry, not through sales numbers or nostalgic releases, but through the courtroom battles that helped define one of the world’s most influential entertainment sectors."
BOOK SPOTLIGHT - The Best Life Adventure Games
Jupiter Hadley (2025); Pen & Sword Books - White Owl; Non-Fiction
"The Best Life Adventure Games isn't just a catalogue. It's a love letter to the art of slow, thoughtful play."
🙏 THANK YOU for Reading
That’s a wrap for this week’s Newsletter. I hope you discovered something new, surprising, or just plain fun.
As always, your feedback helps shape this project - so don’t be shy! Drop a comment below, join the conversation on Discord, or just reply to this newsletter and share your thoughts.
And if you’re enjoying these weekly roundups, please consider supporting The Video Game Library with a paid subscription or forwarding this to a fellow fan. Every little bit helps us keep preserving and celebrating these incredible works - and the passionate people behind them.
Until next week — happy reading,
Dean (Founder, The Video Game Library)