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Elden Ring developer’s next game is Armored Core VI

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Armored Core is back. FromSoftware, the developer of Elden Ring, is working on Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. The upcoming sequel was announced Thursday night during The Game Awards 2022 via a short cinematic trailer. It’s gearing up to launch sometime in 2023.

ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON – Reveal Trailer

The trailer didn’t show off any gameplay, but did give us a look at the tone and visual style. It seems like fire will be the main theme of this entry. If it’s anything like the other installments, Armored Core VI will feature tactical third-person gameplay with an emphasis on shooting and mech customization.

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While this does serve as the first official announcement for Armored Core VI, the game has been rumored for a while. Earlier in 2022, players received a survey with details about the game well before its announcement. The survey apparently noted that the game would feature “a “high degree of freedom in customization.” In an interview with IGN in 2017, the head of FromSoftware, Hidetaka Miyazaki, revealed the team was working on Armored Core.

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Armored Core is a mech series that began in 1997 and spawned numerous sequels. Before Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring, FromSoftware was known for the Armored Core series and served as the main developer. The most recent installment, Armored Core: Verdict Day, launched for PlayStationn 3 and Xbox 360 in 2013 and has been dormant since. Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon launches for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Steam in 2023.

Elden Ring fans shouldn’t worry about their favorite game being abandoned. As part of FromSoftware’s Game of the Year acceptance speech for Elden Ring at The Game Awards 2022, Miyazaki said “we still have several more things we want to do.”

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Joseph Yaden
Joseph Yaden
Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides for…
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I’m talking to everyone else -- the ones who dabbled in Dark Souls, love Bloodborne, and tore through Elden Ring. I can tell you with confidence that you’re not ready for Armored Core VI. No, this isn’t Dark Souls with mechs, and for as much as FromSoftware has iterated on the core design with its now decade hiatus from the series, this is still very much an Armored Core game.

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A new gameplay video for FromSoftware's Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is out now, and it highlights the intense combat and detailed mech customization that Digital Trends first got a look at during Summer Game Fest Play Days earlier in the month.
ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON — Gameplay Footage
The gameplay video begins with a mech leaping off a ledge and boosting through the air to get across a large mechanical facility. It then showcases some combat against minor enemies as the player makes their way deeper into the base so we can see some of the tense combat situations players will find themselves in as they boost around, shoot, and sometimes even melee attacks. 
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And yes, the video confirms that you can customize the color of your mech.

After highlighting customization, it's back to more fighting, which ultimately culminates in a boss fight against a boss that looks a bit like a furnace. It has the remarkable visual design, attack variety, and aggressiveness one would come to expect from a boss in a FromSoftware game, but unfortunately, the player dies and the trailer ends before the boss can be defeated. Still, if you were on the fence about Armored Core VI before, this gameplay footage shows you exactly what to expect.
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon launches on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on August 25.

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