# Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve: launch tracker > Ace Combat 8 opened to Deluxe Edition buyers three days before its 2 October launch. We track how players react in early access and at Day 1, 7 and 30. Developer: Bandai Namco Aces. Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment. Released 2 October. 83% of 14,408 player reviews recommend it (as of 12 October). ## In short Players who finish the campaign call it the best in the series, for its story, its cast and its music. Anyone who wants a long single-player campaign on a controller has good reason to buy it now. Players who come for multiplayer, fly with a stick or a keyboard, or play on a PC near the minimum spec may prefer to wait for the update Bandai Namco has promised. ## Latest update: Day 7, 8 October 87% of the 2,103 reviews posted from 6 to 8 October recommend it, up from 70% on launch day. Players who finish the campaign call it the series’ best, and crashes that stop the game from starting are now the main complaint. - 6 to 8 October: 87% positive, from 2,103 reviews - Launch day: 70% positive, from 1,769 reviews - All reviews: 82% positive, from 12,990 reviews - Sales: 1 million copies, the fastest in the series - Fixes: An update promised on 9 October, with no date yet We read these reviews in full on 10 October. - 50 most recent reviews, 6 to 8 October: 30 positive, 5 mixed, 12 negative, 3 off-topic. - **A week in, players who finish the campaign call it the series’ best.** The story, the cast and the music carry most reviews from players with 15 hours or more, and the closing missions win the most praise. A minority of veterans find the plot forced, the radio chatter relentless and the campaign too close to Ace Combat 7. - **Crashes now stop players before the game starts.** Most negative reviews come from players with an hour or two who never got past a black screen, a loading screen or an engine crash in the opening cutscenes. Players who got it running report stutter and frame drops in the late missions, even on high-end PCs. - **Players tell each other to buy it for the campaign and skip multiplayer.** Multiplayer is the most common complaint among players who otherwise love the game, from dropped connections to teams in upgraded jets taking every kill. A few enjoy it and find it better than Ace Combat 7’s. - **Keyboard and mouse players feel left out, and the Zero bonus has faded.** Players without a controller say the game is hard to play without mods. The Ace Combat Zero bonus, the main grievance in early access, has almost dropped out of the reviews. ## Questions ### Is Ace Combat 8 worth it? Most players say yes. As of 12 October, 83% of 14,408 reviews recommend it. They praise the campaign, the music and the look. Since launch the complaints are mostly about multiplayer, PC performance and flight stick support, and the Ace Combat Zero bonus that angered early buyers comes up far less. ### Why can’t I find a match in Ace Combat 8? Bandai Namco says matchmaking can fail when players connect from PCs below the system requirements, and asks online players to use Windows 11 and install the game on an SSD. Dropped connections and long searches are among the most common complaints from players who otherwise enjoy the game, and a fix is promised without a date yet. ### Is Ace Combat 8 co-op or multiplayer? Yes. Ace Combat Online has co-op and PvP modes with cross-platform play, and the campaign is single-player. Some players expected co-op missions with friends and found short team contests instead. ### Is Ace Combat Zero a standalone game with the pre-order? Not on PC. The pre-order bonus, Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War, only runs from inside the full Ace Combat 8 install there, with no achievements or cloud saves. Console players get it as its own game. ### What’s in the Ace Combat 8 Deluxe Edition? Three days of early access, a cosmetic set and a Premium Ace Pass Plus voucher that unlocks a season of the pass, including the ADFX-02 Morgan, which players say dominates multiplayer. ### Does Ace Combat 8 support flight sticks and HOTAS? Only a few supported sticks work, and the controls can’t be freely remapped, which is one of PC players’ main complaints. ### How does Ace Combat 8 run on PC? Well for most players a week in, but not for all. The negative reviews now come mostly from players who never got past a black screen, a loading screen or an engine crash in the opening cutscenes, and players who got it running report stutter and frame drops in the late missions even on high-end PCs. It needs a graphics card with hardware ray tracing, and Bandai Namco has promised fixes without a date yet. ### What PC do you need for Ace Combat 8? The minimum is a GeForce RTX 2060 (6 GB) or Radeon RX 6600 XT with a Core i7-10700K or Ryzen 5 3600X, 16 GB of RAM, Windows 11 and 150 GB on an SSD, for upscaled 1080p at 30 on Low. It needs a graphics card with hardware ray tracing. The recommended PC, an RTX 3070 or RX 6800 with 32 GB of RAM, aims at upscaled 1080p and 60 on Medium. ### When does Ace Combat 8 come out, and on what? 2 October 2026, on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Deluxe Edition buyers could play from 28 September. ### How much is Ace Combat 8? $69.99 for the standard edition. ## Sources 30. Steam: Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, user reviews and review history: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2288340/ 31. Bandai Namco Entertainment: Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve takes flight today (early access, launch date and the Deluxe Edition): https://www.bandainamcoent.com/news/ace-combat-8-wings-of-theve-takes-flight-today 40. Bandai Namco on Steam: Ace Combat 8 upcoming update plans and online matchmaking status, 9 October: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2288340/view/1846018067932464 41. Bandai Namco on Steam: Ace Combat 8 passes a million copies sold, 9 October: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2288340/view/1846018067931817 Page: https://creativecult.digital/games/ace-combat-8