FromSoftware’s Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is off to a great start on Steam, with publisher Bandai Namco saying it’s “thanks to Elden Ring.”
According to PCGamesN , the epic mech battle game from the developer of Dark Souls topped Steam’s list of best-selling games over the weekend, and while it’s currently in fifth place, its launch day numbers dethroned the critically acclaimed Baldur’s Gate 3 .
Fires of Rubicon is the first Armored Core game in 11 years, but more importantly, the first since FromSoftware released games like Elden Ring, Dark Souls 3, Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. As a result, Bandai Namco has higher expectations for this game.
“This is an opportunity for us to really expand the audience for Armored Core games,” Bandai Namco Europe CEO Arno Müller told GI.biz. “My ambitions are not the same as Elden Ring, but our ambitions are much bigger than the previous Armored Core games.
“Thanks to Elden Ring, FromSoftware has become a seal, a guarantee of quality, and that’s why people will see that this game’s Metacritic is excellent, [that] it is difficult but very useful [and say] “I want to try this game.”
While the giant mechs don’t exactly match the stoic fantasy world of the Elden Ring, they do have one similarity on the technical side. The PlayStation 4 Pro version of Armored Core 6 runs at a fixed frame rate of 60fps on the PlayStation 5, despite Bandai Namco stating a maximum frame rate of 30fps at 1800p, just like Elden Ring.
In our 8/10 review, IGN said, “Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon’s stellar customization options feed into its excellent combat mechanics, and as a result, the challenging combat puzzles kept my attention throughout the 15-hour campaign and beyond. It boils down to a sad story, but it gets to the point.”
Ryan Dinsdale is a freelance reporter for IGN. He will talk about the Witcher all day.