Over the last decade or so, Japanese developer FromSoftware has completely restructured what we expect from combat-focussed RPGs thanks to its Dark Souls games.

Its longer-running series, though, is actually Armored Core, a mech combat game that it's been making for years, albeit with no title appearing since the PS3 and Xbox 360. Now, it's back - find out everything you should know about Armored Core 6, below.

To find out about more upcoming games that we're excited for, check out our lists for PlayStation 5 and for Xbox Series X/S.

Armored Core 6: Release date

Armored Core 6 came out on 25 August 2023, so you can now get it purchased and enjoy.

How to buy Armored Core 6

The next Armored Core game is now available to buy, so if you like the look of this mech-action game, be sure to pick it up now.

Armored Core 6: Platforms

Fires of Rubicon has been in development for a long time, according to industry rumours, and this is actually slightly backed up by its announced platforms.

The game will release not just for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, but also on PS4 and Xbox One, like Elden Ring before it. Whether this will make for any compromise in scope is impossible to gauge at this stage.

There will also be a PC release, of course (you can now pre-order it on Steam), but nothing on Switch.

Armored Core 6: Trailers

FromSoftware debuted Armored Core 6 at The Game Awards in 2022, with a classy trailer that you can see below.

It's pretty atmospheric and doesn't contain any gameplay, but certainly sets the mood and establishes what the game is about for those who don't know - big robots.

April 2023 saw a proper gameplay trailer release, although it's more in-engine than anything else since the gameplay snippets are heavily edited:

Armored Core 6: Story

Depending on who you talk to, storytelling might not have always been central to the Armored Core series, which has long been mission-based.

That won't change with Fires of Rubicon, although the story may take on much more importance. From the initial press release, we know that the game will centre on the planet Rubicon 3, where a valuable new substance has flared up a proxy war between corporations and harvesters.

We'll apparently infiltrate the planet as a mercenary and find ourselves stuck in the middle of the conflict, trying to make our way. A creepy story trailer dropped in late July 2023 and suggests that we might be playing as a fighter who lost their team in an impressive ambush, and you can check it out below.

Whether we'll have control over story outcomes, or if there might be key decisions that we can make, is all up in the air at this stage.

We do know that it's a bit of a story reset - there won't be any connections to previous Armored Core games for you to worry about.

Armored Core 6: Gameplay

Armored Core has been around for so long that its gameplay consequently evolved pretty significantly through console generations and over a dozen games.

This might be called Armored Core 6, but that's a pretty big simplification of the games' release timeline. Still, after a big interview with FromSoftware by IGN and a major gameplay showcase in July 2023 (which you can watch below by skipping to the 14-minute mark), we know a few clear things.

This will be a mech combat game in which you get to customise every component of your robot to your exact specifications - as demonstrated by this quick clip of some crazy customisation options.

You might want quicker movement speed, so pick a certain type of leg option, but sacrifice how much you can fly and boost as a result. You could opt for extreme firepower with shoulder cannons, but accept that it'll slow you down - there are loads of these sorts of decisions to be made, a little like customising a weapon in Modern Warfare 2.

Combat can be really fast-paced, but will apparently not be becoming Soulsborne-esque, since FromSoftware knows that isn't where the series started.

However, there will seemingly be a posture mechanic that can open up enemies to critical hits, which is an evolution for Armored Core, along with a mild stealth mechanic to let you catch enemies unawares.

Despite the supreme success of Elden Ring's open-world structure, the game will also be sticking to a mission-based structure.

Apparently, things also will have a heavy singleplayer focus, although there will definitely be a versus mode for multiplayer that we'll hear more about at a later date.

The team also says that boss battles will be a big part of the game, testing the player's skill and determination, and the closed-doors demos that were shown off in June 2023 confirmed this, with bosses that look pretty Souls-like.

The demo in July 2023, meanwhile, confirmed that the game will have huge levels to explore, some measuring a couple of kilometres in each direction, so there will be plenty of traversal and exploration to be done.