Bandai Namco announced on October 9 that Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve has passed 1 million copies sold worldwide. According to the publisher, no other game in the franchise's 30 years reached that mark so quickly. The figure came just over a week after launch and confirms that the return of the aerial combat series, after seven years without a mainline entry, has found an audience.

What was announced

The official announcement says the game reached 1 million units worldwide "at the fastest pace in the franchise." Ace Combat 8 had early access starting September 29 for buyers of the special editions, and launched worldwide on October 2 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam. It was developed by Bandai Namco Aces, the in-house studio behind the series.

The publisher also highlighted the critical reception: according to review aggregators, Ace Combat 8 is the second best-reviewed game in the series, alongside Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies, released in 2001 on PlayStation 2. On Metacritic, the average cited by VGC is 87.

Bandai Namco did not say how many copies came from each platform, or whether early access is counted separately in the total.

What the number means

Ace Combat 8 is the first mainline game in the series since Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown in 2019. Its predecessor is the franchise's biggest hit: according to Push Square, it has passed 7.5 million units, but it took much longer to rack up its early sales. Bandai Namco never announced when Ace Combat 7 hit 1 million, and the site notes it needed more than a year to reach 2 million.

The result comes in a crowded month. October 2026 brings big releases such as Gears of War: E-Day, at a time when console sales in the United States are in a slump, as shown in our story on the Circana data. Even so, a niche series like arcade aerial combat reached seven figures in a matter of days.

What we still don't know

  • Platform breakdown: not released. Third-party estimates suggest close to half of the copies are on PC, but Bandai Namco has not confirmed this.
  • Upcoming content: the game already has its cross-platform online mode, launched as the first season of Ace Combat Online, plus aircraft sold as add-ons. The publisher has not yet detailed a content schedule for the coming months.