Bandai Namco is putting the Nintendo Switch on the highway to the danger zone, announcing that Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Deluxe Edition will be coming to Nintendo's hybrid console on July 11.
According to the official release, the Switch version will include "all original content and faithfully recreates the fast-paced action of the original." It will also include the original release's 2-8 player multiplayer gameplay, and will bring with it six DLC packs and bonuses from the original game.
In addition to the base game, the full list of content available for Nintendo Switch includes:
- Three original aircraft sets + three single-player missions
- Part 1 “ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN – ADF-11F Raven Set”
- Part 2 “ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN – ADF-01 FALKEN Set”
- Part 3 “ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN – ADFX-01 Morgan Set”
- Part 4 “ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN – Unexpected Visitor”
- Part 5 “ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN – Anchorhead Raid”
- Part 6 “ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN – Ten Million Relief Plan”
- Bonus Music Player Mode
- Playable Aircraft F-104C – Avril
- Playable Aircraft F-4E Phantom II
- Three aircraft skins from past entries
- 8 emblems from past entries
Originally released back in 2020, Ace Combat 7 is the latest entry in the acclaimed aerial combat series. We awarded it a 7 in our original review, writing, "Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is a great-looking arcade flight combat game, and zipping over high-quality terrain trying to establish missile locks and evade pursuers can be a lot of fun. But the experience often gets weighed down by its weird and convoluted but persistent story and poor communication of objectives. It’s enough to prove that there’s room for the series to make a comeback, though this game will be not the one to jumpstart it."
Nintendo Switch ports have proven problematic at times due to the platform's aging hardware, which in many ways struggles to live up to the standards of even the PS4. To allay concerns, Bandai Namco released a trailer featuring side-by-side comparisons of the Switch and PS4 versions. It doesn't look too far off from other versions of the game, minus a handful of environmental details, but we'll see when it's released in July.
Ace Combat 7 is currently available on PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam, and has sold more than 5 million units to date. There have been no updates on the next entry in the series, but Bandai Namco said that "additional DLC not included in the Deluxe Edition is planned to be available to purchase after launch" on July 11.
Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
