Namco has today announced that Soul Calibur IV on the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3 will support online play:

"What's changed this time round is that the next-gen platforms have network infrastructure already in place," commented Soul Calibur IV's director Katsutoshi Sasaki while chatting with EGM magazine."We've heard from fans that they really want the game to be online, so we figured that, with the current environment, we really couldn't make SC4 without online play."

Further to that, 1UP reports that Namco Bandai is keen to allow gamers to battle online in Soul Calibur IV with customised characters, "But we're unsure whether or not you'll be able to trade characters with friends," Sasaki explained.

Soul Calibur IV, actually the fifth instalment in the Soul series of fighting games, will be released some time in 2008. As for the Nintendo Wii, which is getting exclusive arm-swinging beat-em-up action in the form of Soul Calibur Legends, there's no conformation whether it too will support online play.

We'll keep you posted though.