It has been seven years since Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown was released, and for its seventh anniversary, Bandai Namco Entertainment announced on social media that the game has sold over seven million copies worldwide. The title is currently available on most modern platforms, including a more recent release on the Nintendo Switch, and has a playable rating on the Steam Deck.
The announcement includes a message from producer Kazutoki Kono, thanking players and stating that the team looks forward to meeting them in the skies again. Also included in the announcement is a link to an anniversary wallpaper. Despite having seven main entries and several spin-offs, Skies Unknown is the only title currently available on modern platforms and PC. This unfortunately seems to be a common practice for Bandai Namco, as seen in other franchises such as their Gundam games, where only a few are available on PC. Hopefully, seven million will be enough for Bandai Namco to realize how beneficial new ports of older entries could be, especially with the hype surrounding the new game.
Last year at The Game Awards, the next installment in the series, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, was revealed. The trailer promises new characters, takeoffs from aircraft carriers, and the series’ signature mix of flight simulation with a Japanese art style. In addition to single-player, Ace Combat 8 will also feature multiplayer modes, which were present in previous entries such as Skies Unknown. While Ace Combat 7 only included limited VR missions for the PSVR, now with Meta’s and Valve’s new VR hardware, there is hope that Ace Combat 8 will support a full VR perspective. Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is currently aiming for a 2026 release on PS5, Xbox, and PC, with no specific release date announced by Bandai Namco yet.
Are you one of those seven million players? Will you be checking out Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve? Let us know in the comments below, and for more on Ace Combat, keep your radars on GameObserver.
