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Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve has set its sights on presenting an unfathomably wide horizon. 10,000 square kilometers of open skies, a landscape populated by dense layers of photorealistic clouds and trailing exhaust plumes from larger fighter squadrons than the series has ever dared to attempt. Developer Project Aces has big ambitions, and achieving them has a price.
"We did consider a VR mode for Ace Combat 8, but after much consideration we decided not to pursue it," says Kazutoki Kono, Ace Combat's brand director. "The VR mode in Ace Combat 7 is something we are greatly proud of, but after completing that process we realized that a great flat-monitor screen game and a great VR game are separate entities. We would have needed to develop two different games for Ace Combat 8 in order for us to provide a successful VR mode."
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Virtual reality is the first confirmed kill for Project Aces as it prepares Wings of Theve to take flight in 2026. The focus is on blistering aerial action at nothing less than 60fps; built to a grandeur scale, and embracing bolder speeds, than anything attempted in Ace Combat's 30 years of flight time. This team wouldn't deliver anything less, mind – 2019's Ace Combat 7 registering a franchise-record of seven million sales.
"The success of Ace Combat 7 was phenomenal," says producer Manabu Shimomoto, "and we do feel pressure to deliver for our fans again. We are mindful of the success of Ace Combat 7 and aware of the anticipation it has created for our next game." Shimomoto tells me that this has created a focus across the studio to "bring forward and really prioritize the evolution of the franchise's core concepts."
What we're talking about here are intense dogfights across dynamic cloudscapes, a living sky that transforms as the rush of fast-paced arcade-style action meets best-in-class visual fidelity. Kono says it was important to marry "functionality and beautiful visuals" into a cohesive package. Project Aces is embracing Unreal Engine 5 for Ace Combat 8, as well as a new proprietary technology base called Cloudly, to help realize its ambitions.
"Cloudly allows us to create multi-layered clouds which actually let the player assess their own elevation while flying," Kono continues. "The space is also littered with contrails, which have a function within the game as well. Once the player spots a contrail they are able to follow it to determine where an enemy pilot is. We want players to be able to experience a multi-sensory journey, from discovering enemy fighters to the physical sensation of engaging in combat, to create a more highly-elevated experience."
With such a wide playspace to populate, Ace Combat 8 is operating at a larger scale than ever before too. "Up until Ace Combat 7, we were creating everything in a 10th of an object's original size. So, if a real life aircraft was 20 meters, it would be defined as two meters in the game world. But in Ace Combat 8 we have changed our strategy so that everything is designed in real size and scale."
Kono stresses this design decision in an attempt to help us understand the lengths Project Aces is going in order to deliver a more realistic sense of speed and momentum within its flight patterns and combat models. "What's important is the comparative speed feel. It's harder to experience the actual speed you're flying by yourself, it's always felt alongside something else. Whether it's a jet that you are pursuing, moving closer to the ground, whooshing alongside buildings, or flying along the edges of clouds – these highlight the sensation of flying at high speeds."
"We have put a lot of effort into leading players naturally into experiencing these scenarios," Kono continues. "Obviously, players can choose where they fly – we aren't forcing anyone onto a set route as it were – but I like to use the term 'naturally leading' to describe it. We want to try and encourage players to experience new sensations in Ace Combat 8."
