Gamescom 2016: EA teases Mass Effect trilogy remaster; offers update on Andromeda

EA has surprisingly leaned away from dipping their toes into the popular remaster trend that has been taking over this console generation. For a company that is known by many to do numerous things to get money (microtransactions, DLC, season passes, and even collector's editions that don't feature the actual game), EA decided to avoid the remaster trend due to it being a waste of time and resources. However, it seems that mindset may have changed.

Speaking with Game Informer on the topic of remasters, EA's executive VP Patrick Soderlund hinted that their way of thinking has changed after seeing how well remasters have done for other companies.

"What's changed is that there is proof in the market that people want it, maybe more than there was when we spoke. There were some that did it before, but I think there is even more clear evidence that this is something that people really want." stated Soderlund "The honest answer is that we are absolutely actively looking at it. I can't announce anything today, but you can expect us most likely to follow our fellow partners in Activision and other companies that have done this successfully."

Soderlund also stated that the company doesn't want to rush and remaster everything because they think that a remaster should be thoughtful and stay faithful to the original game while offering new features and visuals.

"We have to be careful in choosing the right brands for the right reasons at the right time," he explained. "A remaster is something that you can just do or do it really well. I want to make sure that if we were to do it, we would do it really well and that people feel that it's the same game but it feels so much better in this new shape and form. There have been titles that have come out that have done it really well, and there have been others that maybe haven't done it so well. We just want to make sure that we stay in the 'done it really well' camp."

Game Informer's Mike Futter also asked about the state of Mass Effect: Andromeda which has been notably absent from E3 and Gamescom for the past few years. With a release set for next year, it has begun worrying people that a delay may be imminent or that the game may be in some trouble that EA doesn't wish to acknowledge.

This however appears to not be the case and just that EA wishes to focus on 2016's lineup of games since they have a big year ahead of them. They don't want to overshadow their current games like Titanfall 2 and Battlefield 1 with a game that releases in 2017.

"You'll get [your first look at gameplay] in the not too distant future," Soderlund said when I inquired about the game's absence from E3 and Gamescom. "I get people want to see gameplay and I just came back from a short vacation and I played through the first three hours of the game. It's very playable, and there is no alarm about, 'Why aren't they showing it?' It's strictly that the game will get the right type of exposure at the right time and that we can the right voice for it. Right now we're focused on our big titles for [October through December], and when that's done, we'll shift to Mass Effect. You'll see a lot more very shortly."

[Game Informer]