Armored Core 6 release date revealed in stunning new trailer

Mechs and explosions, it's all here folks

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon has finally been given a release date in a beautiful new trailer that gives us our first real look at the gameplay you can expect when the game is released. The game is slated for release on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

The new trailer starts off with sweeping shots of the Earth from space, before showing us a spaceship — if there’s any doubt that this was taking place in the far future, that doubt is well and truly dispelled now. With flashes of text like “Feed the fire.” sprinkled between establishing shots, you get the feeling right away that this will be much heavier in story than some of FromSoftware’s other games.

About a minute into the trailer, we start to see actual gameplay, and it’s looking pretty slick. Huge, open areas, speedy mechs traveling through a desolate world, it’s all the Armored Core stuff you know and love. It’s hard to get a grasp on exactly how combat is going to go, but it looks like there’s a decent enough mix of melee and ranged combat on offer, which is nice to see.

After some more story, and the utterly excellent line of “Let’s see how far they can fly on borrowed wings,” we finally get to the release date: August 25, 2023. A lot sooner than perhaps many were expecting, given it was only announced at The Game Awards in December.

For those not in the know, Armored Core was FromSoftware’s first big break, kicking off a series that spanned 15 games over 20 years with 1997’s Armored Core on the original PlayStation. The most recent game, Verdict Day, was released back in September 2013, meaning it’s been dormant for almost a decade.

In that time, FromSoftware has spent years refining and perfecting the Dark Souls formula, while still mixing things up from time to time with games like Sekiro. The studio’s most recent release, Elden Ring, was its most successful by a long shot, leveraging George R.R. Martin’s storytelling to essentially create Dark Souls 4 in all but name, this time with a huge open world.

Armored Core certainly plays very differently from the Souls gameplay that has skyrocketed FromSoftware to success in recent years, so it’s hard to know if it will attract the same fans those games do. Anyone who’s played Armored Core will know they’re still very much in for a difficult challenge, and it sounds like Armored Core 6 will be no different.

For those who have fat stacks of cash to burn, there’s also a couple of very fancy and very expensive collectors editions, complete with big old statues and art books. If you’re looking to spend $500 on a mech statue, it could be yours today.

ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON - Premium Edition and Collector's Edition up for preorder at Bandai Namco Store ($449.99/$229.99) https://t.co/wr6tHzO1kP pic.twitter.com/chOlCBsDA8

— Wario64 (@Wario64) April 27, 2023