Following player complaints over Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War’s limited launch options on Steam, Project Aces issued an apology earlier this month and promised to look for possible solutions True to the studio’s word, a recent update has confirmed that an upcoming standalone application for the 20-year-old game is on the way for PC players
A modern port of Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War was one of the pre-order bonuses for Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve. Since October 2, the only way Steam players could access Ace Combat Zero was by installing Ace Combat 8 (which requires at least 150GB of free space). Due to the main game’s large file size, some were unhappy about the lack of a standalone application for Ace Combat Zero. On the other hand, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S players had access to a DLC executable file that allowed them to launch The Belkan War as a standalone game and thus did not face this issue, which only fueled Steam players’ dissatisfaction.
Project Aces is currently conducting final quality assurance and compatibility testing on the Ace Combat Zero Steam standalone application in preparation for its release. Once the update rolls out, players will be able to access the game both as a standalone title and through Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve. Save data is expected to be shared between both versions thanks to Steam Cloud functionality. Further information regarding the release schedule and distribution method will be released once the studio’s final verification process has been completed.
The devs reminded players that this update only applies to those who pre-ordered Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, as there is no option to buy Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War as a standalone game. There are no plans for the game to be sold in the future either, as Bandai Namco Entertainment’s contacts with jet manufacturers would not allow it.
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is available for Windows (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X❘S.
