We know that Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is going to appear at Gamescom where Bandai Namco is likely to announce a release date for the game. In preparation for the new reveal, the publisher opened a brand new official website for the game.

The site includes the following message:

After eleven years, the latest numbered game has finally appeared!

The Ace Combat series boasts more than 14 million shipments. The latest game Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is finally coming. Speaking of the Ace Combat series, the player becomes an ace pilot, with the refreshing feeling of flying freely in 360 degrees immersed in graphics recreating the real sky, while defeating the enemies with his judgment and skill. It's a series pioneering the flight shooting genre allowing to enjoy the pleasure of overcoming difficulties and a feeling of achievement.

"Project Aces," that has worked on the whole series, continues to be in charge of development of this game which is the latest of the series. With the theme of "Sky Innovation" they have depicted the most attractive game of the 20 year-long histories of the series with the vast clouds filling the sky in three dimensions and the skillfully depicted landscape.

In the "three-dimensional field of the sky," you can feel the sensation of speed and the clouds hitting the airframe, enjoying the feeling of actually reaching for the sky. Also, employing tactics inside and outside the clouds, above and below, you can enjoy exciting aerial battles with increased strategy.

The site also includes a handy timeline of the numbered games of the series. Do keep in mind that those are in-game years, not release years. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is set in 2019 in the chronology of the Strangereal fictional world.

There actually is a small mystery included in the website. The cover art of the game includes a "2019" copyright notice, which prompted some to believe that the game may have been delayed again to next year. While this is not impossible, I would definitely not put much much credit in that copyright as an indication of anything tangible.

First of all, the image has an obvious disclaimer mentioning that it's just a mockup, which means that the copyright notice isn't necessarily what will be included in the final cover. More importantly, the website includes a "2018" release window anywhere else. Even the message quoted above talks about eleven years after the latest numbered game. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation was released on October 23rd, 2007, and eleven years after that is within this year.

That being said, we'll probably know more at Gamescom, but a copyright notice on a box art mockup is too flimsy an indication to assume a further delay.

If you want to see more, you can also check out the latest screenshots showing weather effects much more, and the most recent trailer focusing on the story.

 Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is scheduled to be released for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.