Ace Combat 8 Lead Teases New Story DLC—and Even Ace Combat 9

While Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve won’t hit shelves until October 2, Bandai Namco is already looking far ahead. During a recent discussion with Polygon, franchise brand director Kazutoki Kono opened up about the series’ long-term trajectory, dropping hints regarding potential narrative expansions and even the groundwork for Ace Combat 9.

These revelations coincided with insights into Bandai Namco Aces, the specialized studio founded in 2022 to serve as the permanent home for the franchise. Kono pointed out that previously, development teams would inevitably disband and pivot to separate projects once an installment wrapped up. The establishment of a dedicated studio allows developers to maintain complete focus on the aerial combat series, cultivating specialized sub-teams. Elaborating on this workflow, Kono strongly hinted that the narrative department is already lining up their next creative endeavor the moment the campaign for Ace Combat 8 crosses the finish line.

“We’ve already announced that Ace Combat 8 is going to have a live-service element to it, so that needs its own team to continually develop new content,” Kono stated. “And I haven’t really spoken much about this yet, but even the main storyline, once the team is done, there’s another challenge awaiting them. And even further down the line, Ace Combat 9, perhaps, as we continue the franchise.”

Bandai Namco has yet to issue a definitive confirmation regarding story-driven DLC for the upcoming sequel. An official FAQ hosted on the game’s website simply drops subtle hints about prospective add-ons, noting: “The Ace Combat series has a long history of supporting players with additional post-launch content. While we are not ready to share details about future content plans at this time, we look forward to sharing more information in the future.”

Even so, Kono’s remarks serve as the strongest sign yet that additional operational missions are bound to materialize through future patches. Such an approach would seamlessly mirror the roadmap of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, which successfully rolled out a trio of supplementary post-launch scenarios.

Kono’s casual mention of Ace Combat 9 highlights a growing self-assurance in Bandai Namco Aces operating as a self-sustaining entity. He emphasized that the studio’s overarching mission centers on preserving institutional expertise, fostering versatile technology applicable across multiple endeavors, and “increasing the potential for smaller teams to develop and take on different aspects of the game.”

“At the center of development are people, human talent. In order to support their growth and future path, we need that knowledge to be retained,” Kono explained. “When every person individually is able to grow to a different level, what that does is create more development lines. Different teams can form around those people who have retained knowledge.”

Prepare for takeoff when Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve officially touches down on October 2 for Windows PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

Get ready for an all-out skirmish

Source: Polygon