Armored Core VI was announced at The Game Awards by FromSoftware and Bandai Namco. It is the game in 9 years for the Core series.
Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon Rises from the Ashes in 2023
- Genre: Action
- Developed by: FromSoftware
- Published by: Bandai Namco
- Release date: 2023
- Price: TBD
- Platforms: Windows (Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
During the final moments of The Game Awards 2022, FromSoftware made a surprising announcement. While their other game, Elden Ring, has been snatching awards left and right, they showed off a cinematic trailer for another game series they’ve been putting off for quite some time now.
On the eve of December 8, 2022, FromSoftware in partnership with Bandai Namco, announced Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon.
From the Ashes
The Armored Core VI trailer released was purely cinematic, but was enough to get everyone’s excitement started. It looks like the mech fighting series is sticking to its dystopian future where corporations and governments fight over power at the downfall of mankind.

Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon takes place on the titular planet, Rubicon 3. It is here that a mysterious resource has been discovered. The substance is presumably able to catapult humanity’s technology further forward. Having control of this element would definitely put the holder in a position of power.

However, much to everyone’s dismay, the substance reacted poorly to humanity’s efforts to understand it. Instead, it erupted into a massive inferno. The resulting blaze totally engulfed Rubicon 3 and the nearby celestial bodies.

From the ashes, it looks like the substance has reemerged, and is ripe for the taking. Various corporations and other military groups have started to attempt to salvage what they can from the burning system. What’s a little fire and death when there’s money to be made, right?
Armed to the Teeth
Armored Core VI, just like each and every game in the series, will have the player assemble their very own mech or “Core”. These Cores have extremely high degrees of customization, allowing pilots to create a death machine that they can truly call their own.

Players usually act as mercenaries, lending out their arms to any corporation that may offer the highest bidder. As they grow in fame and notoriety, they start earning credits which they can spend later on for various mech parts.
The game gets extremely rewarding once you get exposed to different pieces. Starting out, the player usually has a basic Core that walks on two legs and has some sort of projectile weapon and missile system.
Give Me a Choice!
Once you have more options, players can go wild with their designs. Perhaps you don’t feel like you need arms, and replace those with huge cannons instead? However, by doing so you lose out on melee weapons.

How about making it so that you want your missiles to fire off vertically, instead of straight towards your target? Doing so will make it harder for enemies to evade your payload, but this weapon system is useless indoors… because roofs do not allow much vertical space.

What about changing your assault rifle to an energy weapon instead? You will relatively do more damage in the process, and have less overall weight since you no longer need to carry physical ammunition. However, energy weapons cost energy (who knew) which will require a substantially powerful generator. Stronger generators tend to weigh more, or have other drawbacks elsewhere.
Creating the perfect Core is a careful balance that will reward experimentation and curiosity above all else.
Build me a Tarnished
The build diversity in the Armored Core games, and hopefully continues in Armored Core VI, is what keeps players so invested. As expected, you can also customize yourself visually, choosing a wide variety of colors and patterns to adorn onto your core.

It is also this build diversity that could hook Elden Ring players in. Since the Tarnished can take up almost every weapon and every spell in the game (provided you have the right stats!), they are also afforded much freedom in choosing how to play.

FromSoftware also mentions on the main page that they are taking everything they’ve learned from their previous action games, and putting that knowledge into a melding pot for Armored Core VI. Knowing the history of the Core games, as well as things like Bloodbourne, Sekiro, or even Dark Souls, this looks to be quite a promising title.
Legacy of FromSoftware
Armored Core has been a longstanding series for FromSoftware, though there hasn’t been a game released since 2013. The original title appeared on the PlayStation back in 1997 and had two standalone expansions, Project Phantasma and Master of Arena. Since then, it got multiple sequels and spinoffs but was largely limited to Sony’s gaming ecosystem except for Armored Core IV and V.

Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon will be released on both the PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. It will also be the first Core title to release on PC. It is currently planned for “sometime” in 2023.
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