Ace Combat 3 lost its story in the West
As Ace Combat 8 scores 87 on Metacritic, a look back at the localisation that cut Electrosphere's branching campaign, voice acting and three endings.
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is not out yet and already sits at 87 on Metacritic, with a release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S and PC on 2 October, or 28 September for the Deluxe Edition. The confidence around it makes an older decision look worse.
Namco judged that localising Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere for the West would not justify the cost, so the version sold in Europe and the United States lost most of its story: sixteen missions, every anime cutscene, voice acting, subplots and three of four endings. It underperformed there, and fans later localised the Japanese release themselves.
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- playstation
- xbox
- release-date
Sources
Where this story ran: one outlet on 27 September 2026. The summary above is written by GamersGuild; the links go to the original reports.