The Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve trailer shown at the June 2 State of Play centered on the game’s Campaign Mode, including a first look at the Land Battleship, a boss measuring roughly 450 meters that flattens skyscrapers as it advances on the captured capital of Theve. Bandai Namco paired the reveal with a release date of October 2, 2026 for PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X|S, and PC.
Ace Combat 8 picks up in July 2029, with the Federation of Central Usea (FCU) reeling from a sudden invasion by the neighboring Republic of Sotoa, which has seized the capital of Theve and shattered the FCU military. Pulled from the sea by the aging carrier Endurance, the player joins Joker Squadron and sets out to retake the city. The single-player story is written by Sunao Katabuchi and unfolds in Strangereal, the fictional world shared across the numbered Ace Combat games. The trailer also shows the squadron drawn into a fight with an enemy ace squadron after its operational intelligence is compromised.
Beyond standard air-to-air dogfights, the campaign mixes in ground attack and anti-ship missions and the series’ giant weapon battles, which pit pilots against the kind of oversized targets unique to Strangereal, like continental transport aircraft and land-based ships. Players have more than 30 aircraft to choose from, a mix of real-world fighters and original designs split into four roles: fighters, attack aircraft, multi-role aircraft, and electronic warfare aircraft. As Joker Squadron’s commander, the player also sets the squadron’s makeup before missions and issues orders to wingmen including Ellington Baxter, Tasha Seversky, and William Coster, while Kate Evans leads the carrier’s second flight, Queen Flight.
Preorders are live now on the PlayStation Store with a Deluxe Edition bundling aircraft skins with three days of early access, which begins September 28 at 3:00 PM Pacific (6:00 PM Eastern); the standard edition follows on October 1 at 3:00 PM Pacific (6:00 PM Eastern) in North America, or October 2 elsewhere. Every preorder includes a PlayStation 5 port of Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War, first released on PlayStation 2 in 2006, plus the playable F-14A Tomcat.
