News

Bandai Namco Announces Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet Game for 2018 (Update)

Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe announced and began streaming a trailer for Dimps' Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet game on Friday. The game will launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam in early 2018.

Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe teased the game as "Projekt #1514" with a teaser trailer on Monday. Bandai Namco revealed that the word "projekt" was a reference to the Sword Art Online II's connection with the German language. The numbers in the project name stand for the letters "S," "A," and "O" in the English alphabet because "S" is the 15th letter, and "A" and "O" are the first and fourth vowels, respectively.

The game will be a third-person shooter role-playing game based in the fictional Gun Gale Online virtual-reality massively multiple online role-playing game. The fictional game featured in the Sword Art Online II television anime series, and Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet will be the franchise's first game based in Gun Gale Online. The release will also be the game series' first title for Xbox One and PC.

Original light novel creator Reki Kawahara is supervising the game's original story. Players' choices and interaction will determine the course of the story. Players will create skills and abilities and utilize new weapons. Characters from the previous Sword Art Online novels, anime, and games will appear in the game.

Unlike previous games, the action game focuses on gun battles. The game will feature realistic visuals that utilize Unreal Engine 4. Some bosses will require friends in co-op mode to defeat, and players will also be able to face off in four-versus-four battles.

Bandai Namco Entertainment's Accel World VS Sword Art Online PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita game launched in North America and Europe on July 7.

The official website for the "Dengeki Bunko Aki no Saiten 2017" event teased earlier this month that the event's Sword Art Online stage panel would have announcements for new developments in the franchise, including but not limited to games. The franchise already has two television anime adaptations, an anime special, and the anime film. It has also inspired multiple manga series, games, and a virtual reality demonstration in Japan. Aniplex of America releases the anime in North America. Skydance Television is planning a live-action television series based on the novels.

[Via Gematsu]

Update: Dengeki Online began streaming a gameplay video:

[Via Gematsu]