Today, Namco Bandai announced that the recently revealed Ace Combat Infinity, their newest entry into the long-standing Ace Combat series of flight-action games, will hit the PS3 "later in 2013" as a free-to-play title.
Infinity will have both a single-player story campaign and team co-op multiplayer at launch, and is said to "combine features that are important to the fans from previous Ace Combat titles." Here's the official blurb:
"The Ace Combat franchise has evolved dramatically over the years, but never before have we been able to offer its amazing graphics and tactical action for free," said Olivier Comte, Senior Vice President at Namco Bandai Games Europe. "The team at Project Aces listens very carefully to its players, and is bringing the best the series has to offer to Ace Combat Infinity, with plenty of new surprises too."
Freedom is at the heart of the experience in Ace Combat Infinity as players dive into the game’s wealth of free-to-play content and fully absorb the endless blue skies with impunity. The game combines a precise near future world setting with elements that are important to fans from previous Ace Combat titles, including super weapons and hyper-real visuals. The Story Campaign Mode will immerse players in the game’s original scenario as they execute a series of perilous solo missions. In the game’s online multiplayer mode, skilled aces will form two teams of up to four players and compete to inflict the most damage on a common enemy.
Earlier, a Namco Bandai Europe spokesperson told Joystiq that Infinity would be released via PSN in Europe on September 25. Presumably, the US version will arrive around that point as well—we're asking Namco Bandai to clarify the US release date, and we'll update this post should they respond.
UPDATE: A Namco representative told us that the company doesn't have a US launch date to share yet for Infinity, but that they do plan to reveal more about the game—including its launch date—soon.
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