Bandai Namco Sees Path To Standalone Ace Combat Zero On Steam
The reversal came within a day of release, and Bandai Namco still will not promise the change is possible, so Steam buyers are being asked to trust a fix that has no date or confirmed implementation.
Key Facts
- Bandai Namco Entertainment released ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE on October 2 for PC (Steam), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
- The pre-order bonus ACE COMBAT ZERO: THE BELKAN WAR launches standalone on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S but is delivered as a DLC executable requiring ACE COMBAT 8 on Steam.
- Bandai Namco said on October 1 that licensing restrictions and platform specifications prevent standalone Steam distribution of ACE COMBAT ZERO: THE BELKAN WAR.
- In an October 2 update, Bandai Namco said there is a prospect of considering a standalone app format on Steam, with implementation and timing still undecided.
- ACE COMBAT ZERO: THE BELKAN WAR has no plans for standalone sale and is offered only through the ACE COMBAT 8 pre-order and physical early purchase bonus.
Reporting from 2 sources: Automaton, Game Spark.
Bandai Namco Entertainment says there is now a prospect of changing how the pre-order bonus for the Steam version of ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE is delivered. The bonus, a port of ACE COMBAT ZERO: THE BELKAN WAR, launches as a standalone game on the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions of Ace Combat 8. On Steam it is provided as a DLC executable that requires the main game to be installed, so it cannot be launched on its own. The company said licensing restrictions and platform-side specifications prevent standalone distribution on Steam at present. In an update on the night of October 2, the day Ace Combat 8 released, Bandai Namco said it has continued talks with platform partners and related companies and is now considering a standalone app format, with the specific implementation and timing still under review. The port has no plans for standalone sale and is offered only through the Ace Combat 8 pre-order and physical early purchase bonus.
The second notice, posted the night of October 2, goes further than the October 1 statement. Bandai Namco wrote that talks with platform partners and other related companies produced "a prospect of proceeding with consideration toward changing from the current distribution format of launching and playing the main game" to a standalone app on Steam. The company is still weighing the specific implementation method and distribution timing, and will only give details once it knows whether the change is possible at all.
The October 1 notice had stopped at discussing countermeasures and apologizing for what it called insufficient prior guidance. The port itself is a re-release of the 2006 PS2 title, set during the 1995 Belkan War, and it has no plans for standalone sale. Bandai Namco says it is available only through the Ace Combat 8 pre-order and physical early purchase bonus.
Steam buyers were not the only early complaint. Reports of crashes and frame rate drops on some PC environments appeared during the three-day deluxe early access that began September 29, and Bandai Namco said it was investigating the causes of forced shutdowns. Support for flight sticks was announced on September 30, with the development team calling the gap from Ace Combat 7 an important issue.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.