After the lackluster performance of the 2017 sci-fi game Mass Effect: Andromeda, many people assumed that the Mass Effect series had died a quiet death. However, in a recent studio profile on Polygon, two executives still have faith in the series.
In the article ‘The State of BioWare: Anthem, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and the Future,’ Polygon writer Alex Kane wrote about the company’s recent history and where they’re going with their work. One topic bound to interest fans of BioWare is the fate of the Mass Effect series. The series enjoyed trilogy of games as well as spin-off novels, but the series has gone quiet since the black sheep known as Mass Effect: Andromeda. It’s one of BioWare’s lowest rated games on Metacritic, even less than their attempt at a Sonic the Hedgehog RPG for the DS. Kotaku did great article on what exactly went wrong with the game’s production. To put a long story short, it involves multiple reboots, having to construct RPG systems from scratch, and the Frostbite engine used in Andromeda’s creation.
In Polygon’s article, however, there’s hope for the series. General manager Casey Hudson and Anthem’s executive producer Mike Darrah both offered hints that BioWare still has faith in the sci-fi series. Darrah said that there’s plenty of story threads left to explore, while Hudson thinks a lot about things he thinks will be great. “It’s just a matter of getting back to it as soon as we can,” he adds. How soon “as soon as we can” means is up for debate, though. Anthem is launching very soon (February 15 or 22, depending on which edition of the game you purchased), and there are hints that BioWare has new Dragon Age game coming down the pipe, which will also feature multiplayer. But we can hope.