ACE COMBAT 8 lands October 2 with a three-tier season pass and no paid loot boxes

Bandai Namco's flight shooter ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE launches October 2 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Steam[1]. Digital pre-orders of the Deluxe Edition get three days of early access, which on Steam starts at 07:00 Korean time on September 29, or 22:00 UTC on September 28[2]. The standard edition is $69.99 on the US Steam store[2]. Everything below was checked against Bandai Namco's official page and the Steam store as of September 27, 2026.

Standard or Deluxe

Every pre-order gets the same bonus: the playable F-14A and a Steam port of ACE COMBAT ZERO: THE BELKAN WAR[2]. Zero runs as a separate application, and it only supports Japanese, English, French, Italian, German and Spanish[2].

The Deluxe Edition adds the three days of early access, two aircraft skins, an online lobby avatar costume, a scarlet missile smoke part and a PREMIUM ACE PASS PLUS voucher[2]. Bandai Namco will keep selling the Deluxe Edition after launch, but the early access only comes with digital pre-orders[1].

A season pass, but no paid randomness

ACE PASS is a seasonal progression track in three tiers. The free ACE PASS is open to everyone. The paid PREMIUM ACE PASS adds rewards at each level, including the Season 1 exclusive ADFX-02 Morgan (PIXY). PREMIUM ACE PASS PLUS adds a 30-level skip on top[1]. The Deluxe voucher is not tied to a specific season, so you can save it for a later one[1].

The official FAQ states that the game has no paid loot boxes or other randomized paid rewards, that everything can be seen before purchase, and that there are no plans to sell consumables[1].

Controls and difficulty

There are two flight control modes. Standard turns the plane in whichever direction you push the left stick; Expert has you roll with the stick and then pitch to turn, which is closer to real flight[3]. Difficulty comes in four steps, Rookie, Pilot, Veteran and Elite, and can be changed at any time. Pilot is the default, and Rookie also lets you reduce the damage from hitting the ground or structures[3].

The online mode, ACE COMBAT ONLINE, keeps its progress separate from the campaign. Its hub is an air base that holds up to 100 players, and it launches with two mission types: Co-Op Assault, where two teams of four compete for score against enemy forces, and Co-Op Warfare, where two teams of four fight each other alongside land, sea and air NPC units[1].

If you plan to play on PC

The Steam minimum spec is Windows 11, a GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB) or Radeon RX 6600 XT (8GB), 16GB of RAM and 150GB on an SSD. A graphics card with hardware ray tracing is required, and at that spec the target is 1080p (upscaled) at 30fps on Low settings[2]. If your card sits below that line, check before you pre-order. The ESRB rating is T[2].

Sources

[1] Bandai Namco Entertainment. ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE official page (with FAQ). Accessed September 27, 2026.

[2] Valve. ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE Steam store page. Accessed September 27, 2026.

[3] Bandai Namco Entertainment. How to choose your difficulty in ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE. Steam announcement, September 18, 2026.