Bandai Namco considers Elden Ring a possible gateway to Armored Core 6

Ahead of the release of Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, Bandai Namco is looking at Elden Ring to help boost the game's sales. 

Talking to GamesIndustry, Arnaud Miller (CEO of its Europe office) said the success of FromSoftware's 2022 RPG will allow Armored Core VI to launch "on a much bigger scale. [...] This is a big step up in this franchise."

While FromSoftware's games (like Bloodborne and the Dark Souls franchise) have sold very well time and again, Elden Ring has felt like a turning point for the developer. In its first year alone, the game sold 20 million copies and racked up numerous end of year awards.

"Thanks to Elden Ring, FromSoftware has become a seal, a guarantee of quality," he continued. "We are not going to be able to match Elden Ring numbers, but we will way surpass what Armored Core previous games have done."

The many roads to Armored Core VI

A game's success (or lack thereof) is measured by more than a developer's previous output. While that can certainly help, other factors such as the environment is game is releasing in play a hand in its performance. 

Armored Core 6 is the first installment in FromSoftware's franchise since Armored Core: Verdict Day a decade ago. Absence for a franchise can make the heart grow fonder, especially if that new entry is also its first release on current-generation systems. 

It also helps that it's coming out at a time where there's been a tangible shortage of big-budget games centered around mechs, a niche which hasn't really been filled since 2016's Titanfall 2.

FromSoftware came into prominence during the 2010s in part because its Dark Souls games filled a niche for players that wanted more of a challenge from games that wasn't always being met. The aesthetics may have changed, but FromSoftware's works could always be counted on to provide a difficult (yet rewarding) challenge.

Miller noted that Fires of Rubicon would provide an opportunity to "truly widen the audience of the Armored Core games." But just by looking like something we don't normally get with triple-A games, let alone in August, Armored Core VI may have already secured its future as a standout title in a year that's included hits such as Baldur's Gate 3 and Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.