Mass Effect Franchise "On Ice," Bioware's New IP Release Delayed

[Raevenlord]

Mass Effect: Andromeda was met with a lukewarm reception from reviewers and users alike (even if there was just a smidge of overblown issues,) and it would seem this has made EA cautious regarding this IP. Make no mistake: Mass Effect still lines up alongside EA's biggest franchises, and it's almost guaranteed the publisher will want to return to it at some point in time. It just so happens that its less than stellar reception has seemingly put further plans on the IP on hold. Bioware Montreal, the studio behind Andromeda's push, as apparently been relegated to a "support studio" role, with staff being channeled towards the new Star Wars Battlefront 2 game and other projects. Part of the staff will still be working on Mass Effect: Andromeda, looking to work through patches and multiplayer support, though it would seem that there are now no plans for eventual Andromeda DLC. This is a sad development, all in all, as Mass Effect counts one of the most interesting settings - and the most potential - among game franchises

On to Bioware's new original intellectual property, codenamed "Dylan", Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson revealed during a recent call with investors that its launch has been postponed. Originally scheduled to launch by the end of March 2018, the not-yet-named title has been pushed back to EA's 2019 fiscal year (April 2018 through March 2019.) This game looks to be EA's take on the kind of "live" game that is Bungie's Destiny and upcoming Destiny 2 (under Activision's supervision), and Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's The Division, being built around a live service and a "disruptive" new social design which was, according to Andrew Wilson, the reason for the delay.



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[Halo3Addict]

I actually really like Andromeda. It felt like I was exploring entire planets instead of niche towns like in the original trilogy. Being able to mold my Ryder into virtually anything I want was also nice, instead of choosing a class in the beginning not knowing what Shepard would be capable of.

The only thing I was disappointed with was the lack of new species. I'll probably play through it again when they release all the DLC, which I'm assuming is still going to happen?

 

[64K]

Depends on how the sales for ME:A turn out. It's a bad sign from EA that they have no plans for DLC on ME:A though. Doesn't look like they have much faith in Bioware to deliver $$$ from more ME.

 

[Estaric]

I actually really like Andromeda. It felt like I was exploring entire planets instead of niche towns like in the original trilogy. Being able to mold my Ryder into virtually anything I want was also nice, instead of choosing a class in the beginning not knowing what Shepard would be capable of.

The only thing I was disappointed with was the lack of new species. I'll probably play through it again when they release all the DLC, which I'm assuming is still going to happen?

Being able to change Ryder's class got rid of the Mass effect feel. Picking squadmates that complimented your class. And the world's were cool but they were empty... I personally think they did a poor job with Andromeda it had so much potential.

 

[alucasa]

Release it on Steam and I might take a look at it. Simple as that.

 

[ShurikN]

None of the original Bioware team is there anymore, the writers suck big time, and the rest is just mediocre. Accompanied with EA's lack of patience.
Why you guys are expecting quality games from them is beyond me.

 

[phanbuey]

ea has managed to screw up mass effect and star wars :/

also origin garbage... this company just needs to die and release the ip

 

[64K]

None of the original Bioware team is there anymore, the writers suck big time, and the rest is just mediocre. Accompanied with EA's lack of patience.
Why you guys are expecting quality games from them is beyond me.

True. I had to accept that Bioware really wasn't Bioware anymore in 2012 when the two founders left. Bioware pretty much began going downhill shortly after EA bought them in 2007 and today they are Bioware in name only. It's sad. One more great Developer gets used up and tossed aside by EA.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Being able to change Ryder's class got rid of the Mass effect feel. Picking squadmates that complimented your class. And the world's were cool but they were empty... I personally think they did a poor job with Andromeda it had so much potential.

Did we play the same game? With over 150 hours in I didn't want it to end. It captured all the same emotions and excitement and not wanting it to end that the 1st trilogy did.

 

[Frick]

Let it burn along with Bioware, or just let them do what are good at: dramas for teens but with more sex, without the pretentions that they can actually do anything else.

 

[Octopuss]

Release it on Steam and I might take a look at it. Simple as that.

Oh yes. Once I stopped playing BF4 there's no reason for me to install another damn game client.
To be honest, I think I will just download pirated version of Andromeda, play it for a few hours, and delete it afterwards.

 

[neatfeatguy]

Did we play the same game? With over 150 hours in I didn't want it to end. It captured all the same emotions and excitement and not wanting it to end that the 1st trilogy did.

I really enjoyed the first Mass Effect. I didn't like how combat was shifting in the second game and it felt more like a simple 3rd person shooter (Gears of War for example) in the third game. The combat turned me off of the franchise in the end and the story was kind of bland by the time everything was all wrapped up, it just lacked that huzzah! feeling you should have after trekking through all three games.

The idea of ME:A wasn't appealing to me with how the last two entries in the series were handled. Not everyone likes the same thing as everyone else. A game I love and thought was a lot of fun, Advent Rising (on PC), wasn't well received by reviewers and other people.

 

[rtwjunkie]

I really enjoyed the first Mass Effect. I didn't like how combat was shifting in the second game and it felt more like a simple 3rd person shooter (Gears of War for example) in the third game. The combat turned me off of the franchise in the end and the story was kind of bland by the time everything was all wrapped up, it just lacked that huzzah! feeling you should have after trekking through all three games.

The idea of ME:A wasn't appealing to me with how the last two entries in the series were handled. Not everyone likes the same thing as everyone else. A game I love and thought was a lot of fun, Advent Rising (on PC), wasn't well received by reviewers and other people.

I agree. Rarely however do people who both liked a previous entry, have so wildly different receptions to a new entry. Thus, I expressed my amazement.

 

[alucasa]

I think I enjoyed ME2 the most. The anticipation and suspension to finale felt great. Of course, I was let down by ME3.

I have had no chance to play ME:A since I use only Stream. I am just not desperate enough to move over EA's Origin. It's not like there are lack of games out there.

TPU is a great game tho. You should play it. It's fun to watch the fanboyz wars on TPU.

 

[rtwjunkie]

TPU is a great game tho. You should play it. It's fun to watch the fanboyz wars on TPU.

It is, but I need a break every now and then to go play some different games or RL stuff.

 

[alucasa]

Hello Kitty online, here I come.

 

[Derek12]

Release it on Steam and I might take a look at it. Simple as that.

+1

 

[64K]

You guys aren't going to see this game on Steam for a very good reason. Valve takes a 30% cut from the sale of each game for distributing the game on Steam. Origin is here to stay fellow gamers.

 

[alucasa]

Doesn't matter whether it comes or not. I have little love for EA games anyway.

 

[dozenfury]

"Disruptive" - the meaningless corporate power word of the week. Add it to words like synergy and leverage...

More seriously, there is reason for some concern for ME fans. The last game EA did this to after disappointing sales, using almost identical wording about being on ice but they'll come back to it was Medal of Honor: Warfighter. EA said the same thing at the time that the IP wasn't being canned but would be on-hold for awhile. Well, that was 2012 and 5 years later there hasn't been even a whisper of a new MoH game anytime soon. They even made similar marketing-style PR comments about MoH: Warfighter like them being happy with the game and it's sales performance, when it's clear in hindsight that they weren't. So odds are with ME it will be more like being stuffed in the back of the closet than just a year off before a follow-up release announcement.

 

[Octopuss]

You guys aren't going to see this game on Steam for a very good reason. Valve takes a 30% cut from the sale of each game for distributing the game on Steam. Origin is here to stay fellow gamers.

Holy crap, that much? I guess devs agree to that disgusting cut because Steam pretty much has monopoly...

 

[alucasa]

Doesn't have to be Steam. I use GoG as well. Anything but Origin really.

 

[danbert2000]

Holy crap, that much? I guess devs agree to that disgusting cut because Steam pretty much has monopoly...

Physical game distributors and stores take at least that much, and then you have to deal with lost sales if stock is low where there is demand. All other app stores or game fronts take a cut, with a perfect example being Apple taking 30% of all App Store purchases, including games. Think about it, Valve has to keep their client updated, feature your game, support the store pages, provide a single, visible place for game-centric forums, and, biggest of all, provide bandwidth for 50+ GB games basically forever since customers can and frequently do redownload games or at least consume the huge patches that developers keep pushing out. Valve is doing all of the heavy lifting except for making the game. I think they're entitled to the 30%.

 

[Prima.Vera]

And the world's were cool but they were empty... I personally think they did a poor job with Andromeda it had so much potential.

The worlds in Andromeda are big, no complain, but boring as hell. All of them have the same, Kett bases, Revenant builds, same enemies (wtf???), similar boring sidequests - look for minerals, look for memories, look for supplies, look for Santa Claus....

 

[yogurt_21]

The worlds in Andromeda are big, no complain, but boring as hell. All of them have the same, Kett bases, Revenant builds, same enemies (wtf???), similar boring sidequests - look for minerals, look for memories, look for supplies, look for Santa Claus....

so... pretty much exactly the same as all ME1 non main quest worlds.