Outernauts, Insomniac Games’s joint social game with Electronic Arts is now playable on Facebook.

The game is a monster battling and collection game similar to popular Nintendo’s Pokémon series set in a stylized science-fiction universe . Players assume the role of an intergalactic police officer, part of the Outernauts, who patrols planets and systems to keep wild aliens in check and battle forces like space pirates. In May, we got to spend some hands-on time with the game during a short demo. Gameplay is heavily story-based and players will find themselves exploring large maps, solving puzzles, battling and managing resources on their home planets.

This is the second high-profile social game EA’s launched this summer, following last month’s SimCity Social, and is the first time EA’s made a significant move into the social publishing scene. Monster battling games aren’t hugely popular on Facebook — the genre leader is Gaia Online’s Monster Galaxy with 1.1 million monthly active users and 90,000 daily active users — but EA has a massive user base to tap into, so it’s very possible the game might lead the field in a matter of weeks. Additionally, EA is planning to sell licensed plush dolls that will unlock exclusive in-game content, representing a sizable amount of additional potential revenue.