Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is landing on PC October 1, and Bandai Namco already put out the official specs. If you’ve been eyeing the Deluxe Edition’s early access window starting September 28, you’ll want to check these numbers before you pre-load anything. This is not a light game to run: the requirements list a mandatory SSD and a ray tracing capable GPU on both tiers, so a few older rigs that handled Ace Combat 7 fine are going to hit a wall here.
Minimum Requirements
- OS: Windows 11 (64-bit)
- Processor: Intel Core i7-10700K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (8GB)
- DirectX: Version 12 (Shader Model 6.6 required)
- Storage: 150 GB, SSD required
Recommended Requirements
- OS: Windows 11 (64-bit)
- Processor: Intel Core i7-12700K or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
- Memory: 32 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (8GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6800 (16GB)
- DirectX: Version 12 (Shader Model 6.6 required)
- Storage: 150 GB, SSD required
What to Expect at Each Tier
On minimum spec, Bandai Namco is targeting 1080p with upscaling at around 30fps on Low settings, and they’re upfront that frame rate can dip further during the busier dogfights with lots of missiles and particle effects on screen. That’s a rough target for a flight combat game where reading the radar and tracking multiple bandits matters, so treat minimum spec as playable rather than comfortable.
Recommended spec aims for 1080p upscaled at 60fps on Medium settings, a more reasonable baseline for a series built around fast turns and split-second missile locks. Worth noting that even the recommended tier still caps out at Medium, not High or Ultra, so anyone chasing max settings at higher resolutions should budget well above an RTX 3070 or RX 6800. The 150 GB storage requirement and mandatory SSD apply to both tiers, no way around either one.
Release Date, Platforms and Price
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve releases October 1, 2026 on PC via Steam, alongside PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. It’s priced at $69.99 on Steam, with Deluxe Edition buyers getting early access starting September 28. The game runs on Windows 11 only, and there’s no Mac or Linux support listed.
If your GPU doesn’t support hardware ray tracing, this one simply won’t launch, so it’s worth double checking your card’s specs rather than assuming a GTX-era card will scrape by on lower settings.
[…] game is also on Xbox and PS5. On PC it needs Windows 11, an SSD and a ray tracing capable GPU. Our system requirements breakdown has the full minimum and recommended specs, and the install is around 140-150 […]