Ace Combat 8 Guide: Walkthroughs, Aircraft & Everything Else
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is the first mainline Ace Combat in seven years. This hub collects everything we have confirmed — the release and unlock timing, every edition, the aircraft roster and what your PC needs — and links out to the pages that go deeper.
Ace Combat 8 at a glance
The short version, before the detail. Everything below is stated by the publisher or the store listing.
| Release date | October 2, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Deluxe early access | September 29, 2026 at 00:00 CEST |
| Global unlock | October 1, 2026 at 22:00 UTC |
| Platforms | PlayStation 5 · Xbox Series X|S · PC (Steam) |
| Developer | Bandai Namco Aces Inc. (Project Aces) |
| Publisher | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 5 |
| Genre | Flight shooting (arcade aerial combat) |
| Modes | Single-player campaign · ACE COMBAT ONLINE multiplayer with cross-play |
| Aircraft | More than 30 across fighter, attacker, multirole and electronic warfare classes |
| Setting | Strangereal, July 2029 |
| Previous mainline entry | First mainline Ace Combat entry in seven years, after Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (2019) |
Pick the page you actually need
What is new in Wings of Theve
The campaign returns to Strangereal, the fictional world the series has used from the start. It opens in July 2029, after the Republic of Sotoa invades the Federation of Central Usea and occupies most of the country. What remains of the FCU navy has withdrawn aboard the ageing carrier CV-15 Endurance, and the story begins there: a squadron flying under the name Wings of Theve, borrowed from the occupied capital of Theve.
Bandai Namco describes it as the most cinematic campaign in the series, with first-person scenes you can look around during, and a squad you get to know between sorties. Structurally it keeps the series template — cutscenes, a mission briefing, the hangar where you choose your aircraft, the sortie, then a debrief with a replay. The mission archetypes are air-to-air dogfighting, air-to-ground and anti-ship strikes, and the giant superweapon battles the series is known for.
To bring newcomers in, the publisher also released Hour Zero, a free four-part live-action prequel series starring Josh Holloway, Brandon Routh and Tamlyn Tomita. It sets up the war without spoiling the campaign, which is why we are not going to summarise the plot beyond this point.
Release date, platforms and editions
The game unlocks worldwide on October 2, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, with digital pre-orders of the Deluxe Edition and the two Joker Flight Packs already playing from September 29, 2026 at 00:00 CEST. Stores set their own regional prices, and the edition line-up includes two Bandai Namco Store exclusives that never appear on a console storefront.
The full release date and editions guide converts the global unlock into eight timezones, compares every edition in one table and lists what each pre-order bonus actually is.
All aircraft and unlock guide
More than 30 aircraft ship in the game, sorted into fighter, attacker, multirole and electronic warfare classes. Bandai Namco has named a dozen of them publicly so far, including the F-14A that every pre-order unlocks and the ADFX-02 Morgan that comes from the Season 1 Premium ACE PASS.
The complete aircraft list and unlock requirements page collects the confirmed airframes by class, explains what each class is good at and covers how the online mode changes the way you earn aircraft.
PC system requirements
On PC the game asks for Windows 11, 150 GB of storage on an SSD, DirectX 12 with Shader Model 6.6 and a graphics card with hardware ray tracing. Minimum targets 1080p upscaled at 30 fps on Low; recommended targets 1080p upscaled at 60 fps on Medium.
Full detail, including what the mandatory requirements mean in practice, is on the PC system requirements page.
Seven beginner tips that hold up
These are grounded in mechanics the publisher has described, not in preferences. They are the habits that keep a sortie from turning into a reload.
- Match the airframe to the mission, not to the aircraft you like best. Air-to-air, air-to-ground and anti-ship work each favour a different class, and a multirole is the compromise you take when the briefing throws two of them at you.
- Think before you carry two special weapons. Fitting a second special weapon gives you flexibility but reduces the total ammunition you take into the mission, so a single loadout buys more shots.
- Keep the debris falling. Wreckage from a destroyed unit can destroy whatever it lands on, and cannon kills tend to leave blockier remains that are easier to steer into a formation.
- Use the wingman orders. As the flight lead you can issue commands to the rest of the squadron with the direction buttons and answer radio prompts with yes or no.
- Read the weather in the briefing. Conditions change the fight significantly, so plan the approach rather than flying the same line into every sortie.
- On PC, clear the drive before you buy. Steam asks for 150 GB on an SSD and a graphics card with hardware ray tracing support, which is a requirement rather than a recommendation.
- Finish the campaign before chasing pass rewards. Aircraft unlocked through the Season 1 Premium ACE PASS, the ADFX-02 Morgan included, only become available in campaign mode once every campaign mission is complete.
Where these details come from
Everything on this page is read from the following pages. Links open in a new tab. Where a detail is not public we say so rather than estimating it.
Ace Combat 8 questions
Is Ace Combat 8 open world?
No. The campaign is a sequence of missions built around a briefing, a hangar where you choose and customise your aircraft, the sortie itself, then a debrief with a replay. The online side adds ACE COMBAT ONLINE and its Air Base hub, which holds up to 100 players at a time, but neither mode is presented as an open world.
How many missions does Ace Combat 8 have?
Bandai Namco has not published a mission count. Ace Combat 7 had 20 campaign missions, but we will not carry that figure across to a new game. The real count, and a page per mission, will appear here once we have played through the campaign.
Does Ace Combat 8 support VR?
No VR mode has been announced. Ace Combat 7 included optional PlayStation VR missions, but nothing comparable has been listed for Wings of Theve.
Is Ace Combat 8 on PC and Steam Deck?
The PC version is on Steam and supports Windows 11 only, with no macOS or Linux build listed. The Steam page asks for 150 GB on an SSD, DirectX 12 with Shader Model 6.6 and a graphics card with hardware ray tracing. Valve has not published a Steam Deck compatibility rating for the game.
Do I need to play Ace Combat 7 first?
No. Wings of Theve is a new conflict set in 2029 with a new squadron, and the free four-part live-action prequel Hour Zero exists specifically to bring newcomers up to speed on the setting before the campaign begins.
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Ace Combat and Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve are trademarks of Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. Fun8 Games is an independent reference page and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher. Details are checked against the sources linked on each page and updated when the publisher publishes new information.