After nine long years, the Armored Core franchise is back in action with Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon. This title marks the continuation of one of FromSoftware's original hit series, a mech-building and piloting simulator that became an annual franchise for the burgeoning company. The Armored Core fanbase may be small in the grand scheme of FromSoftware communities, but its passion for one of the most notorious mecha series next to Gundam cannot be understated. Because all of Armored Core is currently locked on older hardware, Armored Core 6 could mark a major revival and expansion for the franchise.
Even so, Armored Core is going to be a big departure from what FromSoftware has put out over the past few years. Initial director Hidetaka Miyazaki and current director Masaru Yamamura were interviewed by IGN, and dismissed rumors of Armored Core 6 being similar to the studio’s Soulsborne titles. As Miyazaki implied at the end of The Game Awards 2022, there are still more plans for Elden Ring, so Souls fans are still being catered to. No matter the risk, Armored Core 6 is going back to the formula that made its series great in the first place - though likely not without some innovations brought about by FromSoftware's experienced pedigree.
Souls and Armored Core Take Different Approaches To Similar Concepts
From the beginning, Armored Core was all about simulating the life of a giant robot pilot. The PS1 original opened with players undertaking their final exam to join the Ravens, a group of neutral mercenaries taking work from competing megacorporations Chrome and Murakumo. After being introduced to the controls, players are brought to the real meat of Armored Core: the Garage. Across any playthrough, hours can be spent assembling the right parts to ace a given mission. Part selection, fine-tuning, color schemes, and even player-drawn insignias are at every aspiring Raven's fingertips, and the options grow as each game continues.
This is similar to how Souls games let players design their characters and encourage variety through treasures and challenges, though AC emphasizes constant adaptation rather than a lasting build. With Armored Core initially sharing an engine with Dark Souls’ loot-obsessed predecessor King’s Field, it’s not a stretch to say that both franchises are cut from similar action-RPG cloth. Just in this one aspect, it's clear that there will be some definite parallels between Armored Core 6 and a Soulsborne title, but these are rooted more in FromSoftware's preferences.
Armored Core Isn’t a Souls-like, But it is a FromSoftware Game
Miyazaki posits that the high-difficulty, post-apocalyptic settings and general darkness of FromSoftware's games originate from FromSoftware's preferences rather than its Souls-like formula. Armored Core 6 is going to be built with these in mind, but that doesn't mean it has any compulsion to conform to recent successes. While it sounds like the posture-breaking system from Sekiro and Elden Ring will return, that's about it.
The structure of Armored Core 6 is confirmed to be similar to past Armored Core’s, and that runs contrary to the interconnected Souls experience. The series is mission-based, though it's unclear if the campaign co-op from Armored Core 5 and Verdict Day will make a return. Bonus rewards from exploration in those particular entries have been hinted at, but aside from fighting FromSoftware’s trademark epic boss battles on the largest scale yet, players won't be sifting through anything like Elden Ring’s open world. An eternal dance between mech customization and intense third-person combat will remain the beating heart of Armored Core, and fans wouldn't have it any other way.
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon will be released in 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
