Highlights

  • FromSoftware's latest game, Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, only received one nomination, disrupting the developer's winning streak and GOTY chances at The Game Awards.
  • While Armored Core 6 may not have been as popular as FromSoftware's Soulslike games, its nomination in the Best Action Game category reflects its niche appeal in the mecha-action genre.

The Game Awards is always an intriguing time in the year as it allows players to reflect on the experiences they shared. This often unearths forgotten experiences from the start of the year, and in 2023 that is particularly true since so many of The Game Awards nominees for 2023 were from games backloaded in the year. Summer was especially saturated with releases, meaning that players would be bouncing between them sporadically based on what their preferences were.

That then extended into the fall with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Super Mario Bros. Wonder —two competing Game of the Year nominees—releasing on the same day.

Now, while fans patiently wait for more news about Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, it may have been glossed over that FromSoftware’s latest game, Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, only received a single nomination this year in The Game Awards’ Best Action Game category. It’s arguable whether that’s deserved or not, but it’s interesting to see how this shatters FromSoftware’s recent track record at The Game Awards.

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Armored Core 6 Only Gets One Nomination at The Game Awards 2023

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon only getting one nomination is probably disappointing for FromSoftware fans, but it isn’t altogether surprising based on the initial reception to it and how fans of the developer have rallied almost exclusively around its Soulslikes instead. Indeed, another Armored Core game was likely the last game that FromSoftware fans anticipated when it was announced and Elden Ring had released shortly before that announcement, meaning that fans were unsure of where to place their excitement.

It was a huge surprise for fans to go from Elden Ring to Armored Core despite being warned excessively that it would be nothing like the Soulslikes they had grown accustomed to. Even though Armored Core is FromSoftware’s most established and lengthy franchise it still can’t hope to compete with Soulslike popularity nowadays.

That’s not to say that Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon was disliked or ignored by the fanbase, but its niche mecha-action genre ultimately made sense for a nomination in the Best Action Game category most of all. This becomes alarming, though, when fans consider that FromSoftware’s last two games, Elden Ring and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, both won Game of the Year for their respective years.

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Sekrio won Game of the Year in 2019 and Elden Ring won Game of the Year in 2022, pedestaling Soulslikes as a pillar of gaming in the last several years. Sekiro and Elden Ring were tremendously different in how they’re designed; Sekiro is an action-adventure game that’s more character- and story-driven, offering far fewer customization or build options than Elden Ring, which is a gargantuan open-world game with all the trappings of the Dark Souls franchise and even more.

It will be interesting to see if Armored Core 6’s one nomination this year has an impact at all on what FromSoftware decides to give priority in development, or if it will continue to work on games it wants to make with no discernible pattern from game to game. Meanwhile, how few nominations FromSoftware received this year may be a telling tale of where fans’ interests are when it comes to the Soulslike progenitor, though there’s still a high likelihood of FromSoftware’s presence being made at The Game Awards if an Elden Ring DLC reveal is made.