Today, Namco Bandai confirmed that the latest installment of their weapon-based fighting franchise, Soulcalibur V, will be released early next year.
In addition, several characters were announced for the game. Series familiars Nightmare, Raphael, and Leixia were confirmed to be included in the game, while Dampierre, a character previously only seen in Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, will be available as pre-order DLC from an as-of-yet unannounced retailer.
Possibly the biggest character-related news is that Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a character from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed franchise, will be featured in the game as a quest character. Ezio will fight with notable weapons from his games, such as his sword, his crossbow, and, of course, his hidden blades.
Soulcalibur V will come in a standard edition, as well as a limited edition. The limited edition of the game will include the game itself, the game’s soundtrack, a DVD featuring behind-the-scenes documentaries, two exclusive sets of downloadable armor, and an art book. All of this content will be packed in a case resembling a book.
Soulcalibur V will be released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on January 31, 2012.
Sources: Namco Bandai YouTube Channel, IGN, Siliconera