A consumer survey, reportedly from Elden Ring developer From Software, has revealed a new Armored Core installment is in development.
While the game has not yet been formally announced, ResetEra-er Red Liquorice jumped onto the forum today to share details of a consumer survey that they allegedly received from the studio. While it didn't reveal the game's name – right now, it seems several titles (mostly "Armored Core: [Something]" are in consideration – it did detail a description about the game, as well as reveal eight screenshots and two 30-second "videos of gameplay", too.
"I've just finished doing a consumer survey about a new Armoured Core game with description, screenshots, and two 30 second-ish videos of gameplay - the first a boss fight and the second more in-world gameplay, a snow area," they wrote. Because each screenshot boasts "unique ID watermarks", they chose not to share the screenshots publicly.
"The boss fight looked quite Soulsy - the long-range gunfire reminded me of Virtua On, that's my frame of reference, I'm not a mech fan and haven't played any AC games," explained Red Liquorice in a later post (thanks, Eurogamer).
"The player character in a white mech went in close to the bigger robot boss and fought with like an energy or laser sword, this looked Souls-style.
"The field gameplay, the player in the same white mech seemed to be following a couple of other players in the distance (co-op?) and they were walking (flying close to the ground maybe) through a snowy area towards either a large wall or gate, this seemed Soulsy too, the vastness of the architecture, but it wasn't a castle more like a worn down metal/stone wall or gate. It was quite short."
For now, of course, all we can do is chalk this up to another intriguing internet rumor, but if true, it suggests the mecha franchise will get a new installment much sooner than many fans may be expecting.
ICYMI, Game of Thrones creator and the mind behind the story of Elden Ring, recently took to his personal blog to call the action RPG "incredible".
Acknowledging the game has long been in development – George R.R. Martin describes how he "did [his] bit and handed off to [his] new friends in Japan" before "years passed" – he talked about FromSoft's "groundbreaking stuff with gorgeous art" and how he helped with "just a bit of worldbuilding".
"A few years back, Hidetaka Miyazaki and his incredible team of game designers, the creators of the Dark Souls video game series, reached out from Japan to ask me to help them create the backstory and history for a new game they were working on," Martin wrote.
Elden Ring's final launch might be less than two months away on February 25, 2022, but there's still plenty more to learn about the new game.
Read up on our new games 2022 guide for a complete look over all the other games launching over the next few months.
