Armored Core 6 beats all Dark Souls games to become second-biggest FromSoftware launch on Steam

Armored Core 6 custom mech — (Image credit: FromSoftware / Bandai Namco)

Armored Core 6: Fires Of Rubicon has seemingly benefited from being the first post-Elden Ring game to come out of FromSoftware.

The studio’s sixth outing in the mecha slasher series just reached another peak concurrent player count on Steam, with 156,171 users in the game at the same time this weekend, according to the Steam database. The game’s first weekend on sale probably jet-boosted that number, but what’s most impressive is how Armored Core 6 stacks up to FromSoftware’s previous games.

Armored Core 6 has zoomed past the peak concurrent player counts of Dark Souls 3 (129,975), Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (125,315), and every other entry in FromSoftware’s gameography, with the obvious exception of the juggernaut RPG Elden Ring, which sits tall on the throne with a peak concurrent player record of 953,426. Elden Ring’s popularity is no surprise - it’s actually the sixth most popular game of all time based on Steam concurrent users - but Armored Core 6’s numbers are very impressive for a series that was recently pretty niche.

Armored Core 6 has more than just Steam player numbers to brag about, though. After one single day of release, players began painting their mechs with Elden Ring logos, Batman Beyond colours, Venom patterns, and, err, anime porn. While fans have been enjoying those custom paint jobs, our review also had great things to say about the game: “an exhilarating game that lives up to the promise of action that only mechs can deliver,” we wrote.

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.