According to a listing on Amazon Italy, Soulcalibur VI will release this September. The online retailer listed the upcoming 3D fighting game with a September 27, 2018 release date. Prior to this leak, publisher Bandai Namco had only announced that the title would release this year.

Soulcalibur VI is the seventh mainline installment in the franchise (blame Soul Edge for the numbering being off), which has been the most popular weapon-based fighting series since it premiered in 1995. Veteran players should be able to feel right at home with the fighter as it retains the eight-way movement system, but new gameplay systems have been added in order for it to feel fresh. The most notable addition is the Reversal Edge mechanic, which allows for characters to clash and then unleash counterattacks.

As is often the case with early release dates, the September 27, 2018 listing was later pulled from Amazon Italy. The site now pegs it for a December 31, 2018 release, which is clearly a placeholder. Amazon has been a source for early release dates in the past. A notable recent example is that God of War's April 20 release date was revealed before Sony could announce it.

Whether or not this potential release date will stick remains to be seen, and looking to the past isn't particularly helpful here. The Soulcalibur series has never stuck to a regular release schedule, and past entries have released as early in the year as January to as late as November. September seems like a solid middle ground between the two extremes, especially as it'll give the game a chance to get onto store shelves before the big holiday rush begins to amp up. And considering just how many major games are releasing this fall, getting ahead of the crowd will surely help the title sell more copies, even though it doesn't really need any help.

Soulcalibur VI is set to be a key 2018 title for developer and publisher Bandai Namco. One of the reasons it's so highly anticipated is that it's their first entry in the popular fighting game franchise since 2012's Soulcalibur V. The inclusion of The Witcher's Geralt of Rivia as a guest character has also been particularly well received, and it continues a long tradition of guest stars that have ranged from The Legend of Zelda's Link to the titular hero of Spawn over the years. They're certainly pulling out plenty of stops to make this appealing to fans old and new. Officially, Soulcalibur VI is set to release on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC sometime in 2018, but September seems like a solid projection.

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Source: Amazon Italy (via Game Rant)