Ace Combat 7 is 80% off on Steam ahead of AC8's arrival
With Ace Combat 8 shaping up to be one of 2026's best games, now is a great time to catch up on its predecessor at a steep discount. PC Gamer is calling the sale a smart entry point for newcomers.
A Good Time to Get Into the Cockpit
If you have been putting off trying the Ace Combat series, Steam is making the excuse pretty thin right now. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is currently 80 percent off on the platform, according to PC Gamer, which is the kind of discount that turns a curious interest into an impulse buy.
The timing is not accidental. Ace Combat 8 is generating serious buzz, with PC Gamer going so far as to suggest it might be one of the year’s best games. That is a bold claim, and it gives the sale a genuine sense of occasion. Catching up on AC7 before the new entry lands just makes sense.
What Makes Ace Combat 7 Worth Your Time
Ace Combat 7 launched back in 2019 and brought the long-running arcade flight series back to PC after years away. It is not a sim. It is big, dramatic, operatic aerial combat with supersonic jets, missile locks, and a story that leans hard into its own fictional geopolitics with total sincerity. That blend of accessibility and spectacle is exactly what the series has always done well.
For players who never boarded that particular jet, an 80 percent discount is a low-stakes way to find out what all the noise is about. For lapsed fans who played it at launch, it might be worth revisiting before the sequel arrives.
AC8 Has Some Real Momentum Behind It
The recommendation from PC Gamer is not just a nudge toward a good deal. It reflects genuine anticipation for Ace Combat 8. Describing any game as a potential best-of-year title carries weight, and it suggests that Bandai Namco’s next entry in the series is landing with real impact rather than coasting on nostalgia.
That kind of excitement around a sequel tends to make the older games in a series feel relevant again. Players who want to understand the references, the world, and what made fans fall for the franchise will find AC7 is a reasonable place to start.
The Math on an 80 Percent Discount
Steam sales come and go, but an 80 percent cut is toward the deeper end of what you typically see for a title of this profile. If you have had Ace Combat 7 sitting in a wishlist, now is the window PC Gamer is flagging as worth acting on.
Sales like this rarely stick around indefinitely, and with AC8 building momentum, the moment feels right. Getting a well-regarded action game at a fraction of its regular price, right before its sequel potentially takes the series to a new high, is about as clean a setup as a deal gets.
How much is Ace Combat 7 discounted on Steam right now?
According to PC Gamer, Ace Combat 7 is currently discounted by 80 percent on Steam.
Why is now a good time to buy Ace Combat 7?
PC Gamer reports that Ace Combat 8 is shaping up to be one of the year's best games, making its predecessor worth picking up as a way to get familiar with the series before the new entry arrives.