Ace Combat 8 gets online mode with PvE, PvP and social hub

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Ace Combat Online will bring team battles, limited-time events, customisation and a pilot hub to Ace Combat 8.

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Ace Combat 8 will feature a separate suite of online modes called Ace Combat Online, with cooperative and competitive battles, as well as a social space where pilots can gather between missions.

Co-Op Assault pits two teams of four players against each other for points. Each group takes on game-controlled enemies and completes objectives to rack up the highest score possible.

Co-Op Warfare, meanwhile, adds direct team-versus-team combat in PvPvE battles. Both sides have allied ground, air and naval units as they fight enemies and attempt to take down their opponents. Destroying targets raises a player's threat level, increasing both the points earned and the bounty awarded to anyone who shoots down that pilot.

The air base will serve as Ace Combat Online's social lobby. Avatars will be able to meet up, use arcade machines featuring retro Bandai Namco games such as Pac-Man, and listen to classic Ace Combat soundtracks on a jukebox. The idea is to keep players together even when they are not fighting.

The limited-time events, known as Emergency Missions, will come in two formats. In Scramble, a team of four players faces a game-controlled rival squadron. Emergency Sortie brings together eight pilots for raid-style PvE missions based on major confrontations from the series' history.

Ace Combat Online will also feature limited-time 4v4 team battles and eight-player free-for-all missions, with potential restrictions to keep matches balanced.

Matches award levels that unlock aircraft, special weapons and parts. Planes can also be equipped with abilities and cosmetic items earned by playing with each aircraft.

The online mode will include free and paid Ace Passes, with two-month seasons. Aircraft unlocked through these passes can be purchased after the season ends. Manabu Shimomoto, producer of Ace Combat 8, said the digital hub answers fans' requests for a place to meet following the global success of Ace Combat 7.