Ace Combat 8 update 1.01.002 fixes campaign and online issues
Ace Combat 8’s 1.01.002 update targets campaign progression blockers, crashes, online issues and PC settings on 23 October.
Bandai Namco and Project Aces are preparing Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve update 1.01.002 for 23 October, with a broad set of fixes for the campaign, Ace Combat Online and PC settings. The patch notes were published through the game’s official Steam news feed.1
The campaign changes target several progression and stability problems. The update adjusts enemy-aircraft behaviour, rebalances the difficulty of Ladon in Mission 15 on Elite and higher settings, and changes the flare limit for Shadow 22 and wingmen in Mission 28. It also fixes mission failures caused by specific events, including landing on the aircraft carrier in Mission 10, a wingman using an MPBM near the transport in Mission 6, and retrying after all enemies are eliminated in Mission 25.1
There are fixes for crashes and presentation problems too. The notes mention crashes in Mission 11, the Select Aircraft screen and the Aircraft Tree, along with issues affecting radio, sound effects, subtitles, speaker names, models and visual effects. Cinematic scenes and replay playback should be more stable after the update, while hangar and camera behaviour has also been adjusted.1
Ace Combat Online also gets fixes
The online mode receives its own set of corrections. Players should no longer become stuck after creating an account or after disconnecting and reconnecting a controller during the mission-start sequence. The patch also addresses Social features, landing registration in Military Training and display elements in the Arcade Games screen. The duration of ECM, ESM and IEWS effects is being reduced in Ace Combat Online.1
Project Aces also says it is prioritising future improvements to the online mode’s user interface and menu controls. Those changes will arrive gradually in later updates rather than in version 1.01.002.1
Other fixes include a correction for in-game purchases failing when the Steam Overlay is disabled, an Async Compute option for compatible GPUs, revised keyboard assignments and connection settings for some peripherals. The developer says more issues will continue to be investigated based on player feedback.1
Our opinion
This is the sort of early post-launch patch Ace Combat 8 needs: less flashy than new aircraft or missions, but focused on the progression blockers, crashes and online friction that can sour a campaign quickly. The notes are unusually wide-ranging, although the promised online UI work landing later means the 23 October update is a repair pass rather than the end of the game’s launch support story.
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam. The game launched on 2 October, and the official Steam listing identifies Bandai Namco Entertainment as publisher and Project Aces as developer.2