Soul Calibur V is Namco's mystery game, releases in 2012 on Xbox 360, PS3

Written by Matt Swider on May 11, 2011

News: Say hi to SoulCal 5... next year.

Soul Calibur V off-screen teaser tailer is below Soul Calibur 5 logo

The spelling behind Soul Calibur is still a mystery to me, but the first details about the next installment in the fighting franchise are not. Namco Bandai is bringing Soul Calibur V to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, according to press conference tipsters in Dubai - just about the farthest place the video game publisher could hold the reveal.

The new game, slated for release in 2012, will be the first Soul Calibur since PSP's Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny in 2009. Even if you skipped that one, you'll probably recall seeing God of War's Kratos as a special guest fighter on the PSP box. More importantly, SC5 be the series' first console title since 2008's Soul Calibur IV featuring memorable special character tie-ins Darth Vader and Yoda. There's no word on unlockable guest characters or if Soul Calibur V game will even have them.

In fact, forget knowing anything about guest fighters, there's no word on which regular Soul series characters will return. We hope to get a glimpse at the fighting roster in a few hours, though. Namco Bandai has been teasing this "mystery" game for a while now on its Japanese website. The flipping pages countdown clock is winding down with less than five hours to go.

While you wait for the official details, there's a not-so-official off-screen video of the teaser trailer. Gaming Target will post the official version of the trailer as soon as Namco Bandai uploads it in HD. Stay tuned.