The new game from Project Aces and Bandai Namco aims to surpass the previous entry in the franchise even when it comes to clouds.

In an interview with Famitsu, series director Kazutoki Kono and game producer Manabu Shimomoto explained that this is more than just another sequel. It is an opportunity to turn Ace Combat’s cult fanbase into a global phenomenon. According to Shimomoto, sales of Ace Combat 7 are expected to reach seven million copies soon. With the continued success of Ace Combat 8, they hope the franchise will reach even more players worldwide. Their goal is ultimately to reach the 50th anniversary, developing Ace Combat 8 as a turning point for the series.

Kono stated that to achieve this, the Project Aces team has committed to the three core pillars of Ace Combat: the thrill of free flight, the excitement and joy of shooting down enemies one after another, and the sense of accomplishment that comes from overcoming adversity to become an ace pilot. The aim is to maximize Ace Combat’s strengths through new ideas and technologies.

Ace Combat 8 will be bigger. In previous games, various rendering and display tricks made battlefields appear life-sized, but they were actually built at a 1/10 scale. This installment will be the first in the series to operate at a true 1:1 scale. Shimomoto said there were many challenges, but the hardest part was recreating every small detail at such a massive scale.

The aerial combat maps have been designed to allow players to fly freely across a vast 10,000-square-kilometer area. According to Kono, thanks to Cloudly, the sky itself becomes a more reactive battlefield. Cloudly is a new engine developed by Bandai Namco Studios, designed to enhance the visual appearance of clouds and allow players to improve situational awareness by reading the sky.

“Personally, I am not particularly interested in improved visuals without improved functionality. In Ace Combat 7, flying into clouds naturally communicated information to the player, and we are looking for similar visual features that allow players to learn the game’s rules naturally as they play. Contrails and smoke created by enemy aircraft, as well as cockpit reflections, all send signals to the player. These features let players naturally discover and interpret cues that influence their decisions,” Kono said.

Depending on their altitude, clouds take on different shapes, which Kono said works so well as a natural altimeter that he checked his instruments less often in Ace Combat 8 than in previous titles. The game also adopts a new visual format for storytelling through real-time, first-person cutscenes in which players can control where their character looks. Shimomoto said this provides a stronger sense of involvement in the story. Radio communications will still be present, with Kono describing them as one of Ace Combat’s most important innovations.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve will be released for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC sometime in 2026.

Source: PCGamer, Famitsu