Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is coming in 2026, some 7 years (and 7 million sales) after Ace Combat 7 redefined arcade flight action games

Bandai Namco was at The Game Awards 2025 to reveal Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve. This is set to be the first new video game in the long-running series since Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown took flight – the 2019 release still stands as a revolutionary instalment, shifting a franchise-record seven million sales.

What of the sequel, then? Bandai went all out for the Ace Combat 8 reveal, presenting an in-game trailer demonstrating its commitment to single-player storytelling for the upcoming arcade combat flight action game – and what appears to be photorealistic skies to explore.

The debut Ace Combat 8 trailer only teased the story you can expect for this return to the Strangereal universe, but it appears that high-octane, high-flying action will be paired up with more grounded interactions with a vibrant crew on a built-to-scale aircraft carrier. The trailer points to you rising up to become the Ace of Aces, a legendary fighter pilot who can inspire the masses under a mysterious 'Wings of Theve' moniker.

But if all you're here for is the flying, then Ace Combat 8 certainly looks stunning – fast and frantic from the first, brief look at combat gameplay. This is the first game in the series built on Unreal Engine 5, and the team from Bandai Namco Aces is clearly using it to go all-out with new degrees of speed and visual fidelity. All told, the Ace Combat 8 reveal seems like a great way to cap off Ace Combat's 30th anniversary celebrations.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is due to launch in 2026 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.