Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown releases on Nintendo Switch this year

One of the best flight games is coming to Nintendo Switch later this year and it looks like it’s going to be a seriously impressive port.

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown first released in 2019 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The latest entry in the seriously long-running Ace Combat series, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown sees you step into the role of a pro fighter pilot after war breaks out in a fictionalised version of Earth.

With the perfect balance of realism and arcade handling, it’s much more approachable than the likes of Microsoft Flight Simulator but still provides more than enough depth for those who own a flight stick or want to really get to grips with the mechanics.

It is also in my eyes one of the absolute best looking games of the previous console generation, with simply stunning near photo-realistic visuals that see everything from bombarded cities to cloud-topped mountains looking like an absolute dream. It’s one of the last games that I would have expected to be able to play on the Nintendo Switch, which is a fairly underpowered system compared to the PS4 or Xbox One.

Confirmed in a surprise press release, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown will release for Nintendo Switch on July 11, 2024. The Nintendo Switch version of the game will come bundled with six DLC packs and some bonus items that were previously released on other platforms, including some additional plans and cosmetic skins.

A number of other paid DLC packs, including the crossover Top Gun: Maverick Aircraft Set, are then set to release on the platform at a later date. You can watch a newly released trailer for the Nintendo Switch version of the game below:

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Judging by some of the action of the trailer and various screenshots that have been released by the game's publisher Bandai Namco, it looks like a very impressive port considering the hardware. 

Although there appear to have been some obvious cuts to overall resolution and anti-aliasing, as you would likely expect from the Nintendo Switch version of such a graphically demanding game, it looks like the title’s core visual identity remains very much intact. Obviously there’s no telling exactly what the performance will be like until I get the game in my hands, but it's definitely looking very promising so far.

If you're looking for games to play, why not see our guides to the best Nintendo Switch games or the best single-player games for some top suggestions?