Ace Combat Studio Apologises Over Steam Pre-Order Bonus Confusion

The team behind Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve has apologised to PC players after its pre-order bonus turned out to work differently on Steam. The offer was straightforward. Pre-order the new air-combat game and receive 2006's Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War as well.

On consoles, that classic arrives as a standalone download. On PC via Steam, it does not. It runs from inside Ace Combat 8 itself, Eurogamer reported.

That technical difference has practical effects. Ace Combat 8 must stay installed for Zero to be playable on Steam. Delete the main game and the bonus goes with it.

There is more. Because Zero exists under Ace Combat 8 on Steam, it does not have its own separate Steam cloud saves or achievements. Cloud saves are the online backups that keep progress synced between machines. Achievements are the platform-tracked rewards for reaching milestones in a game.

The developer said licensing restrictions and platform-related considerations prevent Zero from being released as a standalone application on Steam. It said that is why the team made Zero available through Ace Combat 8 on that storefront. The studio also apologised for failing to explain the arrangement clearly before sale.

The timing stung. The Deluxe edition, priced at £75 / US$90, included three days of early access ahead of the game's scheduled worldwide release on 2 October 2026. Frustrated Steam buyers left negative user reviews during that early-access window. The game's rating slipped to Mixed before climbing back to Mostly Positive.

Ace Combat 8 was in early access on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam ahead of that launch, according to Bandai Namco. Early access here means paying extra for the higher-priced edition to play a few days before the standard release date.

The studio said it is now evaluating possible options for the Steam issue, including discussions with platform partners. It said it cannot guarantee any changes will be made, but it is actively exploring potential solutions with relevant partners.

For fans, this means the bonus remains playable, just tethered for now. Keep the big game installed. Keep the classic.