Ace Combat 7 Skies Unknown, the new entry in the highly anticipated series, will not be released at the end of this year like originally announced, Bandai Namco confirmed today.

　　In a new press release, it's been confirmed that the team decided to devote additional time and effort to further polish the game and take better advantage of the power of the current console generation and PC hardware.

　　The Project ACES team and I have been working hard on ACE COMBAT 7 and we’re determined to achieve the vision we have set for the game. To reach that vision, we have decided to move the launch of ACE COMBAT 7 to 2018. We would have loved to launch ACE COMBAT 7 at the end of 2017 as we originally intended, but doing so would compromise our goal for the game. We take our art very seriously and that means we have instead chosen to devote additional time and effort to perfect and optimize this newest chapter of the ACE COMBAT saga. The combination of the Unreal 4 Engine and the power of current generation consoles and PC hardware have literally opened the “skies of opportunity” to us to develop the best ACE COMBAT experience to-date. At no other time in ACE COMBAT’s 20+ year history has gaming technology allowed us to deliver the minute details of flight combat - such as cloud cover and air currents – or give players a new way to experience dogfights and attack sorties through hardware such as the new PlayStation VR.

　　More information on the game will be coming next month at the E3 2017, where a new playable build showcasing a new non-VR mission will be available. A couple new screenshots have also been released, and you can check them out below.

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　　Ace Combat 7 Skies Unkown launches on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One next year.