Highlights
- Armored Core fans have waited nearly ten years for a new game, and it's finally coming out in August.
- The development of Armored Core 6 has been a multi-year endeavor, with FromSoft's smaller studio size and getting the timing just right playing crucial roles in its creation.
- With FromSoftware more of a household name now, it's likely Armored Core 6 will see classic fans and newcomers delve into the new title.
A new Armored Core game was always a matter of when, not if, says Armored Core 6 producer Yasunori Ogura. Now, many fans have waited nearly ten full years for a new title, and they'll be getting it next month in August. In those ten years, of course, a lot of things have changed.
The last Armored Core game was Verdict Day back in September 2013, and it perhaps didn't quite leave the legacy FromSoft wanted it to. On Metacritic, the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the title sit at a 66 and 65 respectively. Since then, though, FromSoftware has become more of a household name, releasing Dark Souls 2, Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, Sekiro, and Elden Ring in that time. It seems safe to say that Soulslike games are more popular than ever. Yet, now is a good time for FromSoftware to return to the Armored Core franchise, Game ZXC learns in an interview with director Masaru Yamamura and producer Yasunori Ogura.
Armored Core 6 began, crudely, around 2018, being in development for five years if players count the earliest stages. During this initial period, Hidetaka Miyazaki was involved but would hand it over to Yamamura after about a year of pre-production. According to Ogura, the "real meat of the game development" has been going on for about three to four years, in earnest. Game development for any studio is a multi-year endeavor so that certainly contributes to the length between Verdict Day and Armored Core 6. However, there's a little more to it than that.
Studio size is another factor, one that played heavily in Armored Core 6's development. "We are not an enormous studio by any means," said Ogura.
It's a matter of reappropriating resources and allocating staff to various projects. Having those available resources and the timing being just right was crucial to making this new Armored Core. That timing was a large factor.
Getting the timing on a new Armored Core game for FromSoftware had to be just right, and what all went into that timing is hard to say for sure. FromSoftware's reputation has definitely grown, and it stands to reason that classic Armored Core fans and new FromSoftware fans will be delving into the title based on reputation alone. That's a big draw for any company or IP.
Not to mention, there have been several advances in gaming that FromSoftware is taking advantage of. One example provided by Yamamura during the interview comes down to how detailed each mech in Armored Core 6 can be. All of this hopefully comes together to give fans the exhilarating FromSoftware experience next month.
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon launches August 25 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
