Since advanced access became available, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve has faced backlash on Steam because of performance issues, crashes and Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War’s unavailability as a separate title. Nevertheless, with the air combat sim now available worldwide, it’s become the franchise’s biggest launch on the platform, nearly peaking at 50,000 concurrent players.
Comparatively, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown peaked at 13,758 concurrent players at launch in February 2019. And while it’s only the third-biggest Bandai Namco-published title of all time on Steam, right behind Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon (156,171) and Digimon Story: Time Stranger (84,458), Wings of Theve is far above other 2026 releases such as Echoes of Aincrad (19,901), Code Vein 2 (11,499), and more.
Also available for Xbox Series X/S and PS5, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve focuses on the conflict between the Republic of Sotoa and the Federation of Central Usea. Players take on the legendary callsign, and though it’s revealed to be little more than a propaganda tool, their journey to defeat Sotoa and the bonds formed with Joker Flight are very real.
For more details, check out our review, where we gave it a nine out of ten. You can also check out a new trailer below, which features none other than brand director Kazutoki Kono in a MiG-21.
