Mass Effect is a very beloved series for gamers. It's the Star Wars of video games. It transported us into a world that felt lived in and there was so much to see and do. The original trilogy remains one of the most widely loved series of games of all time. The characters were written with incredible depth, the story was an intimate and personal tale with galactic stakes, and it was just a lot of fun!
When Mass Effect: Andromeda released earlier this year, well… fans were disappointed, to say the least. Most of the original team from the first three games were gone or busy with other projects and this team wasn't as experienced. The game was blasted by both fans and critics and any potential plans for single player DLC were dropped. Andromeda also dropped its price significantly over the course of a few weeks leading many to believe that the game was a failure and the future of Mass Effect was in doubt for the time being.
Speaking to GameReactor, EA Executive VP Patrick Soderlund commented on the future of the franchise and stated that he thinks Andromeda's reception was a bit harsh even with its shortcomings.
"Well I think, my personal opinion is, I think that the game… I usually don't do this, but this is one of those places where I feel like the game got criticised a little bit more than it deserved," [EA game green lighter Executive Vice President Patrick] Söderlund said. "I think the game is actually a great game. Yes, we have to acknowledge the fact that there were some things that maybe we could have done better, absolutely, but as a whole, if you go in and you buy the game today with everything that's in it today, I believe that that's a game worth buying, personally."
"So that's the first thing I'll say. The [second] thing I'll say is, for Mass Effect as a franchise, that has such a big fanbase, and you know I've seen people saying 'Oh, EA's not making another Mass Effect'. I see no reason why we shouldn't come back to Mass Effect. Why not? It's a spectacular universe, it's a loved [series], it has a big fanbase, and it's a game that has done a lot for EA and for BioWare.
"What we need to be careful though of is, whenever we bring Mass Effect back again, we have to make sure that we bring it back in a really [relevant] way, and in a fresh, exciting place. That' my job, and that's Casey's [Hudson] job, and BioWare and the Mass Effect team's job, to figure out what that looks like, and that we don't know yet, but we will."
So, it sounds like EA and Bioware are stepping back to rethink their plans for Mass Effect. Since most of the core team at Bioware is busy with Dragon Age and Anthem, it's likely Mass Effect will remain on hiatus for a bit. It's certainly good to hear EA acknowledge the fact that it did fall short in some places and that they aren't willing to give up on one of their biggest franchises yet.
