FromSoftware Teases Future Armored Core Games

24.02.2024 - 01:25 / gamerant.com / Hidetaka Miyazaki / Dominik Bo

FromSoftware is eager to keep making Armored Core games, although another entry in the franchise won't see the light of day anytime soon. This teaser hinting at the company's future plans was offered as part of a recent retrospective on Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon.

Originally released on August 25, the latest entry in the long-running series of mecha games debuted to critical acclaim and strong sales. Countless reviewers praised Armored Core 6 for its tight gameplay loop, high replayability, and impressive technical achievements, among other qualities.

Some half a year later, FromSoftware already appears to be firmly focused on its next project, the massive Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC that was just treated to a release date: June 21. But that's not to say that Armored Core no longer lingers on its mind. That's according to FromSoftware President Hidetaka Miyazaki, who expressed a «strong willingness» to continue the mecha series in a recent interview with IGN Japan.

Reflecting on how the game turned out, Miyazaki labeled Armored Core 6 a success, yet asserted that there was still room for the Japanese studio to improve. «Not everything was perfect,» the famous game designer said, noting how he is hence «determined not to stop» making Armored Core games. Although that statement is bound to be welcome news for fans of the franchise, it came with a provision that FromSoftware still hasn't made any concrete decisions about developing another entry.

I think Armored Core 6 was a success. On the other hand, not everything was perfect, and there is still room for improvement, so I'm determined not to stop there. However, nothing specific has been decided yet.

The ten-year gap between Armored Core: Verdict Day and Fires of Rubicon was the longest the series ever went without a new installment. Therefore, this confirmation that a new entry isn't in development just yet suggests another decade-long hiatus is not out of the question, even if Miyazaki is eager to tackle more Armored Core projects. That possibility appears even stronger in light of the industry-wide trend of AAA development cycles getting longer in recent times. For reference, Fires of Rubicon entered pre-production circa 2016, ultimately taking around seven years to go gold.

Granted, those elongated development efforts yielded a game that has propelled the series to unprecedented heights, selling around 2.8 million copies in its launch month, which was comparable to the latest entry in the much more mainstream Dark Souls franchise. With this being the first installment to be among the best-selling games of its respective year, it is possible that the success of Fires of Rubicon could convince FromSoftware to tackle another Armored Core pr