Ace Combat is one of Bandai Namco’s oldest series, making its debut 30 years ago on the original PlayStation. Over that time there’s been seven mainline entries, various spinoffs, and even a tie-in novel. Since the game’s inception it has iterated on its arcade style flight mechanics providing just enough realistic elements but ensuring that gameplay remains fun for anyone to pick up and play. That being said, the last entry in the mainline series, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown released in 2019 and now almost seven years on from then, one of the biggest surprises of the Game Awards 2025 was the announcement that the latest installment, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is real and its releasing some time in 2026.
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve began development in 2021 and is a co-production between Bandai Namco Aces and ILCA using Unreal Engine 5. The action packed trailer focuses on a hot shot pilot who forms part of the Wings of Theve crew as their missions unveil a greater plot happening in the world of StrangeReal. The Wings of Theve are named after the capital of the Federation of Central Usea, the heroes home base in...
