Ace Combat Zero Now Runs Standalone on Steam for Pre-Order Owners

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War can now be installed and played on its own on Steam, without Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve on your PC. Bandai Namco’s Ace Combat team announced the standalone version on October 22, and it applies only to players who got Zero as an Ace Combat 8 pre-order bonus. If you didn’t have the bonus, the team says you can’t newly get Zero through this change.

The standalone app is being added to eligible Steam libraries in stages, so it may not show up for you right away. Bandai Namco first said on October 13 that it was running final quality and compatibility tests, and the new post closes with an apology for how long it took.

Your progress comes with you. Save data from the old version sits on your PC, so mission progress, owned aircraft, medals and assault records carry over automatically when you launch the standalone app, whether or not Steam Cloud is on. To move that progress to a second PC, turn Steam Cloud on before you launch the standalone version. With Cloud off, nothing syncs between machines.

The standalone version supports Steam Achievements. If your old save already meets the requirements for some of them, finishing any mission unlocks those achievements.

One annoyance may stick around: the Zero launch-options dialog can still pop up every time you start Ace Combat 8. You can pick “Play ACE COMBAT 8,” tick “Always use this option” and press Play to skip it. The other route is to open Ace Combat 8’s Properties in your Steam library, go to DLC and uncheck Install next to Ace Combat Zero.

The practical win is convenience. If you bought Ace Combat 8 mainly for the Zero bonus, for example, you can now keep the older campaign installed without carrying the whole Ace Combat 8 install, and play it on a second PC through Steam Cloud. Bandai Namco’s wording leaves one thing unclear: whether the standalone app will ever be sold to people who skipped the pre-order. Nothing in the post says it will, so for now treat this as a perk for existing owners only. If you’re still learning the main game, our beginner’s guide covers the controls and mission prep.

Edited by Kerwin Stewart, Editor-in-Chief · How we report