Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon will reportedly release on August 25. As per Insider Gaming, FromSoftware’s mech-crunching title is indeed sticking to its 2023 release window, following a potential reveal in June. The news comes in the wake of Armored Core 6 receiving a 12+ age rating in South Korea, due to its displays of violence — “expression of attacks and explosions using various weapons” (translated via Google). Of course, other regions will impose different ratings depending on their own views on what’s considered appropriate, but updates like this add credibility to the reported summer 2023 (Global North) release window.
FromSoftware revealed a cinematic trailer for Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon at The Game Awards 2022, before confirming in an IGN interview that the game would not lean into the studio’s traditional souls-like structure. Rumours from earlier this year suggested that it was eyeing a September–October release window, though Insider Gaming’s sources point towards a closer date. Armored Core is one of FromSoftware’s early franchises, with the upcoming entry pitting mecha robots against each other in a dystopian post-apocalyptic world, to claim control of a mysterious energy source. Players will assemble and pilot their mechs with ‘3D manoeuvrability’ to partake in fast-paced missions involving ranged and melee combat.
Looking at footage from previous games, you’d be quick to notice the erratic camera controls and clunky movement. So hopefully, FromSoftware’s years of experience with titles like Dark Souls 3, Bloodborne, and the award-winning Elden Ring will help revitalise it for modern platforms. President Hidetaka Miyazaki confirmed back in September 2016 that Armored Core 6 was in development, giving it a good six years to cook. Masaru Yamamura, game designer on 2019’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is serving as the director, while Miyazaki takes a backseat on the project — or rather, focuses on the Elden Ring DLC. As for what mechanics from Sekiro are being carried over to AC6, Yamamura alluded to a posture-breaking mechanic by inflicting large doses of damage. However, it isn’t counter-attack or parry-oriented.
“Rather than calling it a counter mechanic, what we want to stress is this reason to continue attacking and to continue on the offensive,” he said in an interview. “You want to create chances for yourself in combat and turn the battle to the player’s advantage. So what we feel is this is going to create a really nice back-and-forth flow in battles in Armored Core VI, and create this nice mix of offensive and defensive play… but we want the player to feel like they’re constantly able to pressure the enemy and that’s why we incorporated some of these systems.”
Earlier this year, FromSoftware also announced its major expansion for Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree, which is currently in development for all platforms. At the time, the studio dropped a teaser image featuring dimly-lit scenery and a mysterious figure, who is being speculated as Miquella, brother of the Empyrean goddess Malenia, cursed to remain a child forever. The game also received its long-promised ray-tracing support last month, albeit there are no upscaling options for Nvidia and AMD graphics cards.
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon will be out on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.