Dark Souls confirmed for UK

Dark Souls will be heading to UK retail on Xbox 360 and PS3 this year.

It’s the result of a partnership deal between Namco Bandai and hit Japanese developer-publisher From Software.

Namco Bandai will handle publishing duties for the firm’s games in the US and Europe. It was announced at Namco’s Ignite event in San Francisco.

As revealed yesterday, the spiritual successor to Demon’s Souls – Dark Souls – is the first game to come out of the new deal.

The original title was a PS3 exclusive, and was published by Sony in Japan. Namco Bandai published it in Europe last year.

For Namco Bandai UK, the sequel is one of their biggest titles of the year. Marketing director Lee Kirton told MCV: "We want to make this the leading title in its genre this year."

The arrangement also means Namco Bandai will publish Armored Core V in Europe and the US. That game is due for release in 2012.

FromSoftware has an excellent pedigree of producing remarkable fan-favoirite games that have made a huge impact and invigorated their respective categories,” said Namco Bandai Games America CEO Kenji Hisatsune.

The two upcoming games will exemplify this heritage while yet again introducing exciting new ways for gamers to experience these genres.”

FromSoftware studio head Eiichi Nakajima added: Combining the development power of FromSoftware with Namco Bandai global publishing expertise will greatly benefit our upcoming projects.

We look forward to a successful partnership and delivering new revolutionary titles for gamers around the world.”

Dark Souls is a new fantasy RPG and the spiritual follow-up to Demon’s Souls, which posted good sales numbers in the UK despite being released over 9 months since its US debut.

Armored Core V is the latest in the highly popular mech action series.