What Is Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War and How Do You Get It?

Quick answer: ACE COMBAT ZERO: THE BELKAN WAR is the 2006 PlayStation 2 game, shipped as a port of the original rather than a remaster, and Bandai Namco gives it away as a pre-order bonus with every edition of ACE COMBAT 8 purchased before October 2, 2026. It arrives as a separate standalone application in six languages (Japanese, English, French, Italian, German, Spanish), not as content inside the ACE COMBAT 8 campaign.

This page was written on September 27, 2026, five days before launch. Everything below comes from the official Steam pre-purchase offer, the official EU FAQ and the platform store pages; where the publisher has stayed silent, this page says not yet confirmed instead of guessing.

Why Ace Combat Zero Is Showing Up in Search Right Now

Ace Combat Zero is not releasing this year. It trends because Bandai Namco attached it to the ACE COMBAT 8 pre-order offer, which puts the Belkan War back into the same search results as the new campaign. Players typing "ACE COMBAT 8 pre-order bonus" land on a 19-year-old game, then go looking for what it is and whether it is worth claiming.

There is a second pull. The Belkan War sits in the same fictional world as ACE COMBAT 8 — Strangereal — so people who want series context before the October 2 launch find the older entry through lore threads rather than through the store. The pre-order bundle is the reason the title resurfaced; the shared setting is the reason it stays in people's tabs.

Port, Not Remaster: What You Are Actually Getting

The official wording is a port of the 2006 original, and the distinction decides expectations:

A port carries the original game forward onto current hardware. A remaster would imply reworked assets, redone audio or modernized presentation, and none of that is claimed anywhere in the official material. Any list of "improved" features you read before launch is not yet confirmed.

Official source: ACE COMBAT 8 on Steam — Pre-Purchase Offer

Official source: All You Need To Know about ACE COMBAT 8 (Bandai Namco EU)

The same pre-purchase footnote appears on the PlayStation Store concept page and the Xbox Store listing, so the offer is documented identically on all three storefronts rather than being a single-store deal.

Six Languages, Not Thirteen

The port ships with six supported languages: Japanese, English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. That is a different list from ACE COMBAT 8 itself, which supports 13 languages with full audio in English and Japanese only — so the bonus game and the main game do not share a language table, and the official material flags that gap rather than papering over it.

If you plan to play the Belkan War in a language outside those six, that is not available in this port as documented. Dub and subtitle details for the port beyond the six-language list are not yet confirmed.

Where Ace Combat Zero Sits in the Series Timeline

Ace Combat Zero is the seventh chronological entry in the series, set during the Belkan War in the shared world of Strangereal. Reading order for the world itself looks roughly like this:

• The Belkan War era — Ace Combat Zero's campaign, the conflict the title names.
• The Lighthouse War — Ace Combat 7, 2019, the immediate predecessor to the new game.
• July 2029 — Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, ten years after Ace Combat 7, on the continent of Usea where the Republic of Sotoa invades the Federation of Central Usea.

ACE COMBAT 8 is the ninth mainline installment and the direct sequel to Ace Combat 7, so Zero is context rather than prerequisite: it shows the Belkan War era that older entries keep referencing, and skipping it costs you nothing mechanical in the new campaign. The overview page covers the 2029 setting in full.

How to Claim It Before the Deadline

The offer window is stated as before October 2, 2026 — the same day as the global launch. The steps are the same on every platform:

1. Pre-order any edition of ACE COMBAT 8 before October 2, 2026 (Standard or Deluxe; the higher physical packs also qualify since they contain the game).
2. Buy on Steam, the PlayStation Store or the Xbox Store for the platform you play on.
3. Install ACE COMBAT 8, then install the bonus when it appears as a separate application on your platform.
4. Launch ACE COMBAT ZERO: THE BELKAN WAR as its own game — it does not boot through the ACE COMBAT 8 client.

The pre-order also includes the F-14A as a playable aircraft inside ACE COMBAT 8 itself, which is documented on the pre-order bonus page. Whether either bonus becomes purchasable separately after launch is not yet confirmed.

What the Bonus Does Not Include

Three exclusions keep expectations honest. It is not a chapter or mission pack for ACE COMBAT 8 — no campaign mission, cutscene or aircraft is unlocked by installing it. It is not a remaster, so there is no upgraded presentation layer. And it is not a substitute for the base game's own progression: ACE COMBAT 8 keeps its own aircraft roster and campaign, separate from anything in the 2006 title.

For the edition and pricing side of the decision — which purchase tier gets the bonus, and what the Deluxe extras add — the editions and price comparison runs the full table.

FAQ

Is Ace Combat Zero a remaster?

No. It is an official port of the 2006 PlayStation 2 original, delivered as a separate standalone application. No remaster work is claimed in any official material.

Do I have to pre-order to get Ace Combat Zero?

The bonus is attached to pre-orders placed before October 2, 2026. Whether it becomes purchasable after launch is not yet confirmed, so pre-ordering is the only documented route.

Does Ace Combat Zero come with every edition?

Every edition of ACE COMBAT 8 carries the pre-order offer as long as the order lands before October 2, 2026, including the physical Joker Flight Pack tiers sold through the official store.

Is Ace Combat Zero playable inside ACE COMBAT 8?

No. It ships as a separate standalone application with its own launch, not as a mode, chapter or DLC inside the new game.

What languages does Ace Combat Zero support?

Six: Japanese, English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. That is fewer than the 13 languages ACE COMBAT 8 itself supports.

Is the port a current-gen upgrade of the PS2 game?

A port carries the original forward; it is not a remaster. Resolution, frame rate and performance details for the port are not yet confirmed as of September 27, 2026.

Related Guides

• Ace Combat 8 Pre Order Bonus: F-14A and Ace Combat Zero — the full bonus list, the deadline and what happens if you miss it.
• Ace Combat 8 Editions and Price Comparison — Standard against Deluxe, plus the physical packs that also carry the offer.
• What Is Ace Combat 8? Overview and Facts — the ninth mainline entry and where the Belkan War sits behind it.
• Ace Combat 8 Aircraft List With Roles — the 23 named aircraft, including the pre-order F-14A.