Ace Combat Series Brand Director Kazutoki Kono has been involved with the iconic dogfighting franchise for over 30 years now. Working on a single game series for so many years requires not just dedication, but a level of obsession with the material. Ace Combat 7’s difficult development is well documented, while Kono has mentioned the long hours he’s putting into the upcoming Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve on social media. Clearly, Kono’s fire still burns as fiercely as it did three decades ago.
I had the exceptional honor of sitting down with Kono, alongside Ace Combat 8 Producer Manabu Shimomoto, as part of a group interview at a recent preview event for the game. It was here that I asked the legendary dev what keeps him ticking. His response, given in third-person by the on-site interpreter, points directly to the fans.
“With every installment there is a great pressure to deliver,” Kono notes. Ace Combat is very much a legacy franchise, and you don’t get that sort of longevity without some serious consistency. Of course, the simulation game series had its highs and lows over the years, but I feel like Project Aces has consistently learned from its mistakes, culminating with the massive success that was Ace Combat 7.
When the going’s gotten tough, “the voices of the players and the fans, when they express that they really enjoyed the game, they were moved by it, and they’re really looking forward to playing the next one,” have served as Kono’s biggest source of motivation. “That’s not a sales talk,” he stresses, “it’s the truth.”
Kono, who first became involved with the series with 1997’s Ace Combat 2, regularly posts snippets from his day-to-day to X. Between photos of food, flights, and fighter jets, Kono also shares the occasional work update, which at times allude to another late night at the studio. I know from personal experience that getting too attached to your work can lead to unnecessarily long hours and burnout, but Kono has seemingly struck a balance.
When the dev has shared how tired he’s been throughout AC8’s development, though, fan support has kept him going. “From everywhere in the world people would be like, ‘oh, thank you so much for working so hard for us. We’re really looking forward to seeing your hard work. Thank you.'” It’s because of this he can say, “‘Okay, I need to go a little bit further. I need to stand up again.'”
As my glowing Ace Combat 8 preview shows, the efforts of Kono and the Project Aces team are so far paying off and then some. Wings of Theve arrives on Friday, October 2, 2026, though I can imagine Kono’s work will be far from over.
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