Soul (series)

Soulcalibur
Logo of Project Soul
Genres	Fighting
Developers	Project Soul
Publishers	Bandai Namco Entertainment
Creators	Hiroaki Yotoriyama
Platforms	Arcade, PlayStation, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable, Android, iOS
Platform of origin	Arcade, PlayStation
First release	Soul Edge December 1995
Latest release	Soulcalibur: Unbreakable Soul May 8, 2014

The Soulcalibur series or Soul series (ソウルシリーズ, Sōru shirīzu^?) is a weapon-based fighting video game franchise by Bandai Namco Entertainment. There are six installments of the video game and various media spin-offs, including music albums and a series of manga books. Originally released as an arcade game with Soul Edge in 1995, and later ported to video game consoles, more recent versions have been released for consoles only and have evolved to include online playing modes.

The central motif of the series, set in a historical fantasy version of the 16th century, are mythical swords, the evil weapon called 'Soul Edge' and the subsequent sword used to oppose this evil, 'Soul Calibur'. While it has developed during its various iterations, some of the characters and gameplay elements have remained consistent throughout the series. It is one of the most popular and successful franchises in the fighting game genre.

Project Soul is the internal Namco development group responsible for the Soulcalibur franchise after the release of Soulcalibur II. Although the games are usually simply credited to Namco itself, the team established its name to draw attention to the group's combined accomplishments.

The series has six main installments, four spin-offs and one remake:

All games in the series before Soulcalibur III were originally released as arcade games, and subsequently ported to home consoles. The ported versions are known for their extra features, including new characters, weapons, new costumes, art galleries, martial arts demonstrations and involved single player modes, when compared to the original arcade versions. For example, Seung Han Myong is not featured in the arcade version of Soul Edge and in home versions there is an RPG-type mode titled "Edge Master" where the player can unlock various items including weapons for the default characters.