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Ace Combat Infinity boarding PS3s on May 27
Bandai Namco's free aerial fighter Ace Combat Infinity is set to lift off on May 27 for PS3. The next entry in the long-running Ace Combat series was first announced last year in July, and was listed as the first free-to-play game in the series one month later. The game includes a single-player campaign as well as cooperative and competitive multiplayer, and Bandai Namco plans to add a player-vs-player mode following the game's launch. The PS3 exclusive takes place on an alternate-reality Earth in which global authorities construct massive guns to save the planet from incoming debris caused by the destruction of a moon orbiting Jupiter. Ace Combat Infinity was originally due to land in 2013, but its flight suffered delays in December. The game entered open beta for one week in February. [Image: Bandai Namco]
Ace Combat Infinity open beta starts today
A free week-long beta for Ace Combat Infinity kicks off today on PS3. If you're looking to spread your wings, simply boot up your PS3 and grab the download now. Ace Combat Infinity, a PS3 exclusive, is the first free-to-play entry in Project Aces' popular plane combat series. The game takes place on an alternate-reality Earth where the worlds' governments banded together and built large orbiting rail guns designed to save the planet from an incoming barrage of space rocks – the byproduct of the accidental destruction of a fictitious moon around Jupiter. The beta, which ends on February 11, includes samples of two game modes: a single-player campaign and an online co-op game type pitting human players against NPC pilots. All of those who participate in the beta will be given a special in-game emblem that carries over to the full game, which is due for take-off some time this year. [Image: Bandai Namco]
Ace Combat Infinity barrel rolls into open beta next week
Next week sees PS3 owners get their first taste of free-to-play Ace Combat when Infinity enters a week-long open beta, starting on February 4. Common sense (perhaps misguided) would suggest there won't be any microtransactions in the beta, and Namco does say it's "completely free." But the beta may yet clear up any cloudiness over that particular issue - we'll find out either way next week. Namco's billing the online co-op as the main mode in Ace Combat Infinity, but the beta does feature solo missions from the game's story campaign. There's also a mode for two teams of up to four pilots in total, and Gordon Freeman's long-lost twin brother, Commander Glenn "Goodfellow" Freeman is looking forward to seeing you try it. As for the game proper, it's still circling the release date runway with a 2014 window.
Ace Combat: Infinity pushed back to 2014
It's no surprise Ace Combat: Infinity won't land this year, making it the second of Namco's free-to-play PS3 games to barrel roll into 2014. Both it and Soulcalibur: Lost Swords were due in 2013, but with the year rapidly drawing to a close, Namco Bandai made their delays official. As Gematsu reports, the official vagary from Namco is the delay was made to provide a "better" end product. Both games underwent beta testing in recent months, with a closed Ace Combat: Infinity beta ending yesterday in Japan. Namco hasn't provided official word on what to expect from either game's microtransactions. In October, Ace Combat Brand Manager Kazutoki Kono told Joystiq going down the F2P route was "maybe a difficult call" given some apprehension from fans, but that he believed it would prove worthwhile and wouldn't affect Infinity's quality.
Ace Combat: Infinity gearing up for worldwide beta
Ace Combat: Infinity will enter a worldwide beta prior to launching on PlayStation 3, but Namco Bandai isn't ready to share details just yet. "So, we did announce that we're going to do a beta," Brand Manager Kazutoki Kono told me, "But even announcing here today that we're doing a beta was decided the day before." The beta seems likely to launch fairly soon, given the game proper is due on PlayStation Network later this year. Namco Bandai will use the beta to gain standard feedback like how the game systems work and how the servers hold up with traffic, but Kono admitted "one of the core reasons" was to address fans' concerns about Infinity's free-to-play model. I asked Kono what Infinity being free-to-play meant for the series going forward. "Rather than the position of Ace Combat: Infinity within the IP strategy in general," Kono told me, "what's important for us is the goal for Ace Combat: Infinity. By having it free-to-play we want to have as many people actually get their hands on the game for the first time. For instance, they know about Ace Combat in general and want to try out, but they didn't want to spend the actual pricing - you know, it's not cheap! In that case, by being free-to-play, maybe it will be open to more people and maybe it will enlarge the fanbase. That was the target of Ace Combat: Infinity."
Ace Combat Infinity is free-to-play
Namco Bandai Europe confirmed Ace Combat Infinity is the first free-to-play entry in the long-running flight sim series. The PS3 game was announced last month with little detail, and today Namco filled in a few of the gaps, revealing Infinity features both a single-player story campaign and an online mode, the latter for two teams of up to four players. According to Namco Europe's press release, Infinity wings its way to PSN later this year. When approached last month, a Namco Europe spokesperson told us the game was set to be available on September 25. Either way, expect it to loom overhead in the near future.
Ace Combat: Infinity announced for PS3
Namco Bandai announced the next Ace Combat entry, dubbed Infinity, for the PS3 today. The air-sim's reveal came via a teaser that whooshed by like a concorde - remember them? - before rushing away into the distance, leaving little of substance in its trail. When asked, a Namco Bandai Europe spokesperson told us Ace Combat: Infinity is set to be released via PSN on September 25 - that could indicate a North American arrival the day before, going by PSN traditions. He added there'll be more updates to follow in the coming weeks, so we'll keep our eyes on the skies for info as it comes.
