ACE COMBAT 8 Air Base: What You Can Do in the 100 Player Hub

ACE COMBAT 8 Air Base is the central online lobby for up to 100 players. It is more than a matchmaking menu: Bandai Namco says pilots can chat, enter military training, visit shops, play classic Namco arcade games, use the jukebox and launch ACE COMBAT ONLINE activities from the hub as their mercenary career expands.

ACE COMBAT 8 Air Base sits inside a launch that combines a cinematic Strangereal campaign with a much larger online structure than the previous game. Bandai Namco has now detailed the Air Base hub, crossplay, separate online progression, two headline team modes and seasonal Ace Pass rewards. That makes the practical answer depend on the exact edition or mode involved, not just the game name. This guide focuses on the part a player actually needs to know before buying, unlocking or joining friends.

ACE COMBAT 8 Air Base: the Air Base is the online hub

Players enter ACE COMBAT ONLINE as mercenary pilots stationed at an Air Base. The hub can hold up to 100 players and acts as the place to meet other pilots, prepare for sorties and access online facilities.

The Air Base is the central social and preparation hub for ACE COMBAT ONLINE. ACE COMBAT 8 Air Base can accommodate up to 100 players, which makes it the largest shared online space Bandai Namco has described for the series. Pilots arrive there as mercenaries before forming squads and launching the multiplayer activities.

Matchmaking starts here

The lobby is where players launch Co-Op Assault, Co-Op Warfare and other online activities. Standard missions use smaller groups, but the larger shared hub makes the online mode feel like a persistent base rather than a simple menu.

A 100-player hub does not mean 100 players enter the same combat mission. ACE COMBAT 8 Air Base is where the larger population gathers, while modes such as Co-Op Assault and Co-Op Warfare use two teams of four. Keeping that distinction clear prevents the lobby capacity from being mistaken for a battle royale style player count.

Facilities inside the base

Bandai Namco lists a classic Namco arcade, supply shop, jukebox, military training mode and ACE COMBAT STORE. Players can therefore spend time between sorties without immediately returning to combat.

The hub also supports the identity side of online progression. ACE COMBAT 8 Air Base players use a customisable mercenary avatar and can unlock more visual options through online rewards. Bandai Namco positions the base as somewhere pilots can meet and chat rather than a static menu that disappears as soon as matchmaking begins.

More Air Bases unlock with progress

The online page says players can unlock gates that lead to other Air Bases as they progress. Those bases continue to function as online lobbies, connecting mercenary rank with changes to the social environment.

Aircraft preparation belongs here too. ACE COMBAT 8 Air Base is connected to the separate online hangar, where players expand the aircraft and equipment available to their mercenary career. Campaign unlocks do not automatically replace that system because the online mode has its own save and progression.

Customization is visible in the hub

Players create and customize an avatar and can earn cosmetic rewards. Aircraft can also be customized with skins, emblems and weathering, while seasonal Ace Pass rewards add more visual options.

Crossplay makes the hub genuinely cross-platform rather than a separate room for each ecosystem. ACE COMBAT 8 Air Base can bring together supported PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and Steam players, which is useful for forming squads before choosing an activity. Normal platform account and network requirements still apply.

The hub supports the wider progression loop

Missions earn currency, rank progress and Ace Pass XP. The Air Base then gives players places to spend, prepare and socialize before the next sortie, tying progression systems together in one location.

The Air Base is also where the seasonal structure makes sense visually. ACE COMBAT 8 Air Base activity leads into sorties that progress the Ace Pass and improve mercenary rank. The result is a loop of meeting pilots, preparing aircraft, launching missions, earning rewards and returning to the shared hub with more options than before.

Official source

For the original announcement and current first-party details, see Bandai Namco Entertainment.

ACE COMBAT 8 Air Base is easiest to understand once the official details are separated by edition, platform and mode. The launch package, online systems and rewards are all connected, but they do not use one shared entitlement or progression path. Check the relevant sibling guides before launch if you need the exact Early Access, preorder, multiplayer or crossplay rule, then use the Bandai Namco source below for any final storefront wording that changes before release.