With a new year ahead of us, today I'm once more looking into the future of Mass Effect, plunging into what's next for this franchise in 2021, and giving a recap on what we know so far about the development of the next Mass Effect game.
Even at this early point in the year, I can already tell that 2021 is going to be great for many Mass Effect fans. Regardless, before I get into this, for those wondering about the production of the next Dragon Age, I very recently created a huge roundup video on every single major news update on Dragon Age 4’s development throughout 2020. So, check that video out if you’re just as interested in the future of Dragon Age.
Anyhow, blasting into this like leaping through the Omega 4-relay... 2021 is already instantly more exciting because we have the Mass Effect Legendary Edition releasing in the Spring, as well as a statement from BioWare that they’re going to share more this year on Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and other titles in the works.
Just going to quickly throw this out there, but with Lucasfilm Games revitalised for 2021 and announcing many new video game titles recently, like Ubisoft’s open-world Star Wars game and Bethesda’s/Machine Games’ Indiana Jones title, could we see a new Lucasfilm title from BioWare in the coming years, say an ambiguous sequel to a particular Star Wars RPG that goes by the name Knights of the Old Republic?
Well, according to IGN, Lucasfilm Games will continue with more game announcements this year, including "a number of projects" from EA.
So, could one of these other future titles that’s in the works at BioWare potentially be Star Wars related? Perhaps even KOTOR related that’s going to be announced later this year? That’d be a big ask, but I sure hope so, and with the way things are going, it’s certainly plausible.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition:
Anyways, touching on what we know about the Mass Effect Legendary Edition so far, the game is a remastered edition of the Mass Effect trilogy. BioWare have been hard at work updating the textures, shaders, models, effects, and technical features of three enormous games.
We can expect super-sharp resolutions, faster framerates, and beautiful visual enhancements.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition will include single-player base content and DLC from Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and Mass Effect 3, plus promo weapons, armors, and packs – all remastered and optimized for 4k Ultra HD. It will be available in Spring 2021 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, with forward compatibility and targeted enhancements on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.
For those wondering if BioWare have all their fingers in too many pies, with both BioWare Edmonton and Austin studios working on at least three projects at the moment, it seems that the studio had a little help from a tight-knit game development studio known as Abstraction. They assisted with performance optimisation for the Mass Effect Legendary Edition.
On their website, they shared: “This project was interesting in the sense that both parties knew from the start that they wanted to collaborate. We at Abstraction knew we could contribute greatly and BioWare came in open to the potential opportunity based on our track record. The partnership hit the ground running and has been picking up speed ever since. Abstraction’s main task was to help with optimizations and improvements, mostly on graphical related issues. Mass Effect is a saga for the ages, and Abstraction has been working tirelessly to bring the trilogy back in top form.”
It’s nice to hear that BioWare are getting a little help from their friends. I do wonder if Abstraction will be put to use in the future, say I don’t know maybe for a potential Dragon Age remaster? Maker knows that’d be glorious if such a project ever saw the light of day.
According to a report by Eurogamer, Mass Effect Legendary Edition will release on March 12th, 2021.
The release date leak comes courtesy of Singapore retailer Shopitree and Indonesia company GSShop, both of which have posted the March 12 date, which was spotted by Twitter user Idle Sloth.
While I would take this with a grain of salt because BioWare haven’t said anything, Eurogamer states that their sources believe the date to be accurate.
Regardless, the remaster collection is still set to launch this Spring. So, not too long of a wait until BioWare officially say something and we see gameplay on this exciting remaster.
Next Mass Effect Project:
Moving on from the Legendary Edition, a new Mass Effect project is currently in the works. I’ve been collecting, sourcing and archiving everything we know about this project so far. So, let’s take it away.
2019
The next Mass Effect project has been in pre-production since 2019 according to Jason Schreier’s Kotaku report on "The Past & Present Of Dragon Age 4."
Jason shared that: "after Mass Effect was put on ice in 2017 following BioWare's release of what many considered to be a disappointing entry with Mass Effect: Andromeda, the next game in the franchise has since been warmed back up".
2018
However, N7 Day 2018 proved that BioWare have had plans for the next Mass Effect game an entire year prior. Former General Manager Casey Hudson shared in a 2018 N7 Day BioWare Dev Diary that “one of the best things about working at BioWare was coming into the studio everyday dreaming about what the next great Mass Effect game will be.”
So, in essence, BioWare have been envisioning the next Mass Effect game for a couple of years, thinking about the endless possibilities for where they would like to go with the franchise next.
2019
On N7 Day 2019, Casey Hudson dropped a few concept art shots from the original Mass Effect trilogy on Twitter, he said: "We have so many ideas for things we want to do in #MassEffect, so much concept art that hasn't yet been brought to life, and so many stories yet to tell."
Following that, on the same N7 Day, Project Director Michael Gamble asked Twitter: “Where do you want Mass Effect to go in the future?”
This showcases that the developers are creating the next Mass Effect with the fans in mind, they genuinely care about being receptive to feedback and hearing our thoughts on where the franchise could go from here on out.
In another article wrote by Jason Schreier, this time regarding Anthem’s reboot at the end of 2019, Jason reported that: "The next Mass Effect game is in very early development at the Edmonton office under director Mike Gamble, a long-time BioWare producer."
Michael Gamble has been at BioWare since 2009, he has worked on Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3 and Mass Effect: Andromeda. Given his knowledge and experience working on both the original trilogy and Andromeda, he’s certainly one of the perfect developers helming the next game because he can adapt from Andromeda’s mistakes, while carrying the charm that the original trilogy brought.
2020
On N7 Day 2020, concept art was revealed for next Mass Effect, titled “The Mud Skipper.” No doubt referring to the small ship with XT-8 on its side. The character silhouettes in the artwork look similar to a Salarian, Drell, Angara, and someone else.
Fans on Reddit shared a fun fact that the Drell and Salarian silhouettes in the artwork are just flipped versions of Thane and Mordin from the ME2 squad selection menu. So, that just proves that this art piece really should be taken as just concept art, and not denoting to anything else yet.
The N7 Day blog post shared: “Meanwhile here at BioWare, a veteran team has been hard at work envisioning the next chapter of the Mass Effect universe. We are in early stages on the project and can’t say any more just yet, but we’re looking forward to sharing our vision for where we’ll be going next.”
A statement from Casey Hudson said: “For me personally, Mass Effect represents years of work and countless special memories, so every year I feel incredibly fortunate to celebrate N7 Day with players around the world. Thank you so much for supporting us over the years. I can’t wait to continue our adventure together – revisiting our favorite memories in the Mass Effect universe, and creating brand new ones!”
Followed with Michael Gamble’s tweet: “The best job in the world? Envisioning the next chapter of the Mass Effect Universe.”
Later on, in November 2020, BioWare’s Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development released and shared a few insights into the next Mass Effect project. The book revealed a few brand-new pieces of concept art for the working title, as well as a description on the project, it stated:
“Back to space – a look at the next Mass Effect.”
“On the heels of a long-awaited remaster of the Mass Effect trilogy, BioWare now prepares its epic return to space. A veteran team is hard at work envisioning the next big Mass Effect game. Expect amazing new worlds to explore with memorable characters buoyed by the series’ signature choices and consequences.”
“There’s an incredible universe of history to draw from, and many more stories for us to tell,” project director Mike Gamble said. “We’re focusing on creating something truly for the fans.”
In this book, “The Mud-Skipper” concept piece returned along with a few new conceptual pieces.
In December 2020, BioWare General Manager Casey Hudson retired from the studio. With Casey’s departure, Gary McKay, Sr. Director of Development Operations, took over as BioWare’s interim Studio GM, as the company searched for a more prominent figure for this role.
The Edmonton Journal reported that Casey Hudson’s final day was December 11th, 2020, which was one day after BioWare revealed Dragon Age and Mass Effect trailer reveals at The Game Awards 2020.
Speaking of which, BioWare announced that Mass Effect will continue with a brand-new stunning-cinematic trailer that shook the entire fandom with screams of joy and tears of happiness.
As a summary of the trailer’s contents, considering I’ve already broken down every frame of this trailer in another video.
We can assume the next Mass Effect will be set in the Milky Way Galaxy with Liara T’soni returns as a pivotal role for this new adventure. As well as being a fan favourite, Liara can provide many ties to characters in both the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, considering she made herself known to the Andromeda Initiative; more specifically Alec Ryder, and many key Milky Way factions and figures.
More ties to the Andromeda Galaxy have been found, given this mysterious sixth ark that launched for Andromeda, however, never arrived with the other arks, nor was it discovered by Ryder.
And finally, the trailer featured many quotes from human pop-culture and history, showcasing the development of humanity's space conquest and the increasing search of extra-terrestrial intelligence since the early 1900’s, up the events of Mass Effect. I believe this portrayed that the human race is still a pivotal plot in Mass Effect going forward, and may allude to the next player protagonist.
But that’s just speculation and assumptions, a few other highlighted Mike Gamble tweets regarding this trailer’s contents are as followed:
@Gadget Sock asked: “Reaper?”
Michael Gamble said: “I'll give one for free. Yes.”
@LazareGvimradze tweeted: “Opening shot also has very pointed imagery of two galaxies... my mind is racing... are we going to get.. a single sequel to both games?!”
Michael Gamble said again: “Intentional.”
Followed with another tweet: “who knows. maybe not? but we show both for a reason.”
Just like Michael Gamble, many of the Mass Effect trilogy veterans are working on this next project, like Parrish Ley, the cinematic designer of the trilogy, and Dusty Everman who brought the Normandy to life, returning as a narrative designer.
Michael Gamble tweeted that there are more developers to be announced in the future, too.
The Art of the Mass Effect Trilogy: Expanded Edition:
And last, but certainly not least – BioWare are releasing a new never-before-seen art book of the Mass Effect trilogy releasing February 23rd, 2021. As an old school fanboy of the original trilogy, this is incredibly exciting to see. Perhaps the release date will soon follow this book’s release too?
In any event, that’s everything we know about Mass Effect going forward for 2021, it’s certainly going to be an exciting year for every type of Mass Effect fan, especially with that remaster just around the corner.
There’s also been a bit of Dragon Age news that I'll be covering towards the end of the month, as a news round-up video. So, stay tuned for that.
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