Namco Bandai games has announced that the next Soul Calibur game is a free to play title coming exclusively to PS3 this winter.

The game appears to be exclusively single player, which, suffice to say is incredibly odd for a fighting game. The game will feature new element-based weapons and combat, and will also feature looting and crafting. A single player fighting game could be an interesting idea, especially if it’s similar to single-player modes of the classic Soul Calibur titles. 10 years ago, Soul Calibur II included Weapon Master mode, which was almost a dungeon crawling RPG in itself using Soul Calibur gameplay.

Is this Weapon Master: The Game? While that sounds tantalising to some, a fighting game without multiplayer is baffling to most. We will see how it all pans out when the game is released as a free to play download title on PS3 this winter. That date is set with Europe and Australasia in mind; no word yet on a North American download date.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.