MechWarrior 5 Release Date, Cover Art, New Trailer, and Screenshots

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries was one of Screen Rant's most anticipated games of 2018 but a delay pushed it to 2019 and we now know its official release date. Unveiled during the Mech_Con 2018 opening ceremony at the Vancouver Convention Center, MechWarrior 5 releases on PC September 10, 2019.

Announced in 2015 at the first official Mech_Con event there have been different playable demos at the annual event ever since, this year being the first time the co-op has been showcased and made playable. We flew out to Vancouver to visit developer Piranha Games, to chat with the devs and get hands-on with it. They even have four pod setup where players can immerse themselves in the mech pilot experience in 4K, surround sound and HOTAS throttle and joystick setup included.

MechWarrior 5 embraces the "mercenaries" template of certain games in the franchise, much like the beloved MechWarrior 2, since as Piranha CEO Russ Bullock considers this the "pinnacle" of MechWarrior gameplay. That means players run their own mech outfit, with a roster of AI allies that can form their lance when going out on missions or contracts. The entire game is playable in up to four-player co-op, meaning the host can invite friends from their list to fill in those slots for any mission. These characters level up skills as they complete more missions, but if they die (even if your real-life pal is playing them) they're dead for good.

And there's so much more!

"To me that is the pinnacle of the game series, at least, it's what I enjoyed the most. It's what I believe peopled enjoyed the most. I think that always having the freedom to run your own mercenary unit and live out this live in the Battletech universe is something that we've dreamed about. For me that was the core, to give players the most freedom they've ever had in a MechWarrior game." - Piranha Games CEO, Russ Bullock

That's the beauty of the meta layer of progressions players experience a career that begins in the year 3015 and runs until 3049. That's only so much time to complete the story, earn income from contracts and from selling salvage. At the end of every mission, components and weapons not completely destroyed from your enemies can be collected for use or for sale. And your own damaged mechs need time (could be in-game weeks) to repair. That gives you the choice of trying to complete a mission right away with that damaged mech or swapping in another from your inventory.

Piranha's popular MechWarrior Online offers the PvP experience and is built off CryEngine 3, and MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries now adds the single-player story and co-op play but is built off of Unreal Engine 4.

The goal of MW5 is to offer a free form experience where players can explore the Inner Sphere and take the contracts you want and elevate your mercenary unit to elite status. There are 50-60 chassis of mechs in the game, each with 3-5 variants, all of which can be customized in Battletech fashion, even down to the cosmetics. Continue for the latest MechWarrior 5 gameplay screenshots.