While FromSoftware is undoubtedly busy with developing content for Elden Ring: Nightreign as well as Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive title The Duskbloods, the studio has also seemingly been working on another project. According to Mp1st, FromSoftware is in the “advanced stages” of a third project that has been codenamed FMC. The report also states that this codenamed is likely an abbreviation of a longer one.
The report also notes that that FMC is a multiplatform project, and that its development is in advanced enough of a stage where the title could even come out next year. It is also worth noting that the fact that it is a multiplatform game is what differentiates it from The Duskbloods, which is coming exclusively to the Switch 2.
Going by the codenames of previous projects in FromSoftware’s history, those starting with the letter F have historically been either games in the Dark Souls series, or the Armored Core series. The FMC codename could mean that FromSoftware is either reviving the Dark Souls series in some form—despite Dark Souls 3 and its DLCs providing a fairly definitive ending to that series—or something new for Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon.
While Armored Core 6 is still a relatively recent title having come out just a couple of years ago, the franchise has traditionally seen follow-up games shortly after the release of a mainline numbered sequel. For example, 2006’s Armored Core 4 got Armored Core: For Answer in 2008. Armored Core 5 from 2012, similarly got Armored Core: Verdict Day in 2013. This tradition would indicate that we might get a similar follow-up to Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon.
When it comes to Dark Souls, series creator Hidetaka Miyazaki has previously established that he wasn’t interested in revisiting the franchise. If project FMC doesn’t turn out to be an Armored Core 6 follow-up, it could potentially be a remaster or remake of Dark Souls 2 or 3. With Gamescom being just over the horizon, we might end up seeing a new announcement by FromSoftware quite soon.
As for some of the other games that FromSoftware has worked on, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice used the NTCG and NTC codenames, while Bloodborne used SPRJ, and Elden Ring used GR. Interestingly, these codenames would also indicate that Elden Ring: Nightreign might not internally be considered a part of the overall Elden Ring franchise, since it got CL as its codename.
In the meantime, Elden Ring: Nightreign has been a major experiment for FromSoftware since the studio hasn’t previously worked on a game that was designed from the ground-up to be multiplayer. Leading up to its release, director Junya Ishizaki spoke about how the studio is looking at how players react to Nightreign to figure out things for The Duskbloods as well. In an interview, Ishizaki said Nightreign is “going to tell us how players feel about this kind of game and this kind of new challenge for us.”
Elden Ring: Nightreign is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. For more details, check out our review.
