A new MechWarrior game is confirmed to be in development at Piranha Games, but an official announcement will come later this year.
Piranha Games president Ross Bullock has confirmed on the NoGutsNoGalaxy podcast that a new MechWarrior game is currently in development. According to Bullock, the new entry won’t be a form of DLC but is instead a new single-player and co-op game in line with MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries. The new game won’t be officially announced until later this year though, Bullock confirmed.
“Everyone knows we have DLC 4 coming out for MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, and there is another MechWarrior game in development at Piranha; I’ll just say that. It’s not MechWarrior Online 2, it’s more in line with MechWarrior 5, but it’ll be a standalone product. It’ll be announced later, somewhere in 2023, maybe even as late as the Fall, like September or something.” Bullock elaborated on the next mainline entry in the MechWarrior series.
Due to their licensing rights to the MechWarrior IP expiring before 2025, Piranha Games is planning to release this mysterious MechWarrior game by that date. If not, it would require a license extension beyond 2025 to work both on the new project and MechWarrior Online 2. Bullock also iterated that the game will release for PC and consoles, saying, “It’ll be a while. You’ll have to wait around to see what that is, but more in line with a MechWarrior 5 type of experience. It’ll be a game that comes out onto all the platforms, PC and consoles, and follows more of the single player and co-op type of pathway, kind of building off of that whole technology base which makes sense.”
Piranha Games is also working on a new expansion for MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, called Rise of Rasalhauge, which will add a new quest line, crusader chassis with variants, and significant improvements to AI performance and behavior.
There was a 17-year-long hiatus between MechWarrior 4 and 5, during which Piranha Games worked on different titles, including an online MMO and mobile spinoff, whilst also supporting Lord of the Rings Online. The studio shifted its focus to its flagship franchise back in 2019 with the release of MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, which was praised for maintaining the beloved aspects of the classic mainline games.
