We've got some bad news for those of you hoping to get your hands on Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown later this year. Franchise director Kazutoki Kono has just sent an open letter to fans, wherein he announces that the aerial shooter has been officially postponed until some still-to-be-determined point in 2018. Below you can read the letter in full, which explains the reasons why the decision to delay was made:
Dear Ace Combatants,
I wanted to take this opportunity to speak with you directly, our loyal Ace Combat fans, and give you a first-hand update on the launch timing for Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.
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 Combats 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.
We'll have a lot more information and details to share with you in the coming months, starting at E3 2017 where we plan to reveal a brand-new demo showcasing one of the non-VR missions in Ace Combat 7 for the first time ever!