Best games released in October 2020 on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC

October 2020 marks the final month of the current generation of consoles.

With the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 seeing their releases in November, the current Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will effectively be usurped by more powerful hardware in just a few weeks time.

That means the next 18 months or so will be a transition period of sorts, one that kicks off in earnest in October.

Many of the month’s biggest games will be playable across the current and next generation of consoles, so whether you’re able to stump up the considerable asking prices for the new machines or not, rest assured that you’ll still have plenty of blockbuster titles to sink your teeth into.

Here are the best games releasing in October 2020:

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (4 October)

PS4, Xbox One

It's been 22 year since fans have seen a true sequel to classic 1998 platforming game Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped.

Sure, there have been Crash Bandicoot games since, but they’ve toyed with the series formula and suffered from a quality standpoint as a result.

It’s About Time is being developed by the studio behind Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (which rebuilt and overhauled the franchise’s original three games for modern eyes), so gamers are rightly excited.

Players take control of multiple characters from the Crash Bandicoot universe – some of whom have their own unique levels – and the game features new gameplay elements like masks that alter levels.

Star Wars: Squadrons (4 October)

PC, PS4, Xbox One

Star Wars fans may not have had a true space combat game since 2003's Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, but Squadrons looks as if it could be a spiritual successor to that classic series.

You’ll step into the boots of a starfighter pilot, climbing into the cockpits of iconic ships from the Star Wars canon – the game takes place after the events of Return of the Jedi, which gives the developers room to include fan favourite craft from both the original and sequel trilogies.

The narrative is told from the alternating perspectives of two customisable pilots, one serving in the New Republic’s heroic Vanguard Squadron, the other fighting for the Galactic Empire’s fearsome Titan Squadron.

Players on PS4 and PC can even experience the first-person action through an immersive virtual reality mode.

FIFA 21 (9 October)

PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One

Each year, FIFA gives football fans an authentic virtual recreation of what it’s like to step out onto the turf of some of the world’s most hallowed pitches, and each yeah, the developers introduce subtle new tweaks to improve the overall experience.

This year’s new features include an Agile Dribbling system and more realistic AI behaviours for your team.

“From adjusting shin pads in the 89th minute to screaming for passes, player humanisation unlocks the most authentic behaviours ever seen in sports games,” said developers EA.

There will also be “less falling over” when players fight to be the first to the ball, apparently.

Cloudpunk (15 October)

Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One

Cloudpunk is set in a futuristic, neon-streaked world inspired by places like Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul, and sees you play as Rania, working her first shift for a semi-legal delivery company.

Cloudpunk is filled with characters to meet and stories to discover as you explore and deliver packages to underground nightclubs and gardens in the sky.

Combining exploration with narrative, you'll discover dense, vertical landscapes that reach high into the clouds and deep down through the ocean waves below.

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (16 October)

Nintendo Switch

The next instalment in Nintendo’s sublime series of Mario Kart racers isn’t quite as straightforward as a direct sequel to 2014’s near perfect Mario Kart 8.

Instead, Home Circuit combines remote controlled cars, augmented reality and classic Mario Kart gameplay for a brand new experience.

Using real-life toys, players can build the Mario Kart course of their dreams anywhere they like, before racing their tracks with an RC Super Mario.

Images from an onboard camera are relayed back to the Nintendo Switch console, which overlays computer controlled opponents and all the power-up mayhem we’ve come to expect from Mario Kart.

It's an exciting premise, and one that doesn’t come cheap: each kit costs £100, and you’ll need at least two to race against a friend.

Watch Dogs: Legion (29 October)

PC, PS4, Xbox One, Google Stadia

Watch Dogs is a series of games that sees you playing as a member of a near-future group of hackers known as ‘DedSec’, who use the Orwellian technology of their cities against the powers that be.

The third game in the series is set in the UK - a futuristic, dystopian version of London to be precise - where tech surveillance is prevalent on every street corner, and above-the-law police forces abuse their power regularly.

It’s your mission to build a resistance to fight back against the emergence of an authoritarian regime, and the game introduces the ability to ‘Play-as-Anyone’; every Londoner you come across in the open world can be recruited to your team.

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope (30 October)

PC, PS4, Xbox One

The second game in Supermassive Games’ Dark Pictures Anthology (which serves up cinematic, standalone horror tales) is Little Hope, set in the New England town of the same name with an infamous history of witch hunting.

Told between the present days and the events of 1692, players control a group of unwitting characters who witness the execution of a group of settlers from the past who look exactly like them.

It's sure to be another well crafted narrative experience, where each choice you make has long-lasting and dramatic consequences on the final outcome of the story.

Pikmin 3 Deluxe (30 October)

Nintendo Switch

The latest overlooked Wii U game to be given a second chance on Nintendo’s Switch console is 2013’s Pikmin 3, arguably the best instalment in the series of games in which players command plant-like creatures to explore the world and solve puzzles.

In the single-player mode, players control three alien captains who must explore the surface of a planet in search of cultivable fruit seeds to save their home planet from famine.

The new deluxe version of the game includes a new prologue and epilogue, cooperative play in the story mode and all DLC from the Wii U version.