#mass effect future

[jackdawyt]

BioWare didn’t just reveal a brand-new cinematic Dragon Age 4 trailer at The Game Awards 2020, they also unveiled an incredible, cinematic trailer on the next Mass Effect project that’s in early pre-production! It's time to break it all down! 

[jackdawyt]

What's Next For Mass Effect In 2020!?

Today I'm reflecting on everything we know about the future of Mass Effect so far regarding a new project currently in deep development. What's Next For Mass...

With it being the start of 2020, I figured there's no better time to talk about what we know about the future of Mass Effect so far, and the potential of witnessing this hit Sc-Fi franchise make a return.

So, kicking this off, I think the first thing we need to clarify is the fact that Mass Effect isn't dead, it's quite the contrary - in fact, according to Jason Schrieier, the franchise is warming back up. (1) In Jason Schreier's 2019 report on "The Past & Present Of Dragon Age 4" shared by Kotaku, Jason said a few things about the future of Mass Effect, having written 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". However, it's currently unclear at this point in time as to how far along in development the supposed new game in the science fiction series actually is. (2)

And if that's not enough for you, well let's talk about Casey Hudson, the original Game Director of the Mass Effect trilogy, and the General Manager at BioWare. He wants you (personally) to know that Mass Effect is his “baby”, and the team at BioWare has been dreaming about many future concepts for where the franchise can go next.

Over the past two N7 Days, Casey has reiterated the same point that Mass Effect games will continue on, and the team at BioWare are constantly thinking about where the franchise will go next.

Which brings us to the next Kotaku report, according to Jason Schreier's late-2019 expose' in-which he uncovers the plans for a reboot of Anthem, "the next Mass Effect game is in very early development at the Edmonton office under director Mike Gamble, a longtime BioWare producer." (3)

So, Mass Effect as a franchise is indeed not dead, and a new game is currently in deep pre-production.

Mike Gamble has been working at BioWare on the Mass Effect team since Mass Effect 2, he's certainly the perfect developer to be helming the ship of a new Mass Effect project. Under Casey Hudson's management, both of them are original Mass Effect developers and understand what makes Mass Effect great.

Last N7 Day on Twitter, both Mike Gamble and Casey Hudson shared that they're incredibly excited about the future of Mass Effect (4) Mike asked everyone "where do you want Mass Effect to go in the future?" Showing that BioWare are certainly looking to the fans in terms of what they'd like to see for a future title. (5)

Casey dropped a few concept art shots from the original trilogy on Twitter, saying that "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."  (6)

Once more proving that plans are being pushed ahead for a new Mass Effect project. Another big tweet from Mike Gamble came out of an Anthem E3 discussion. Mike skipped attendance of last year's E3 conferences when someone said they'd loved to have met him, he replied saying: "oh you can bet I'll be there next year......." (7) Huge emphasis on the ellipsis there, considering that Mike is the project lead for this upcoming Mass Effect game, and he's going to be at EA Play and E3 2020, this is a big tease for something Mass Effect related to be shown off this year.

Now, I don't want to assume what you're thinking, but I highly doubt that this could be the very early Mass Effect game that's in development. Perhaps they could be showing off some developer diaries of the pre-production stages of this project, but if any new, upcoming BioWare game is to be shown at E3 2020, it's got to be Dragon Age 4, with it's expected release window of at least April 2022. However, I do have another idea at what Mike could be specifically attending E3 2020 for, and that's to reveal a Mass Effect trilogy remaster.

We know that EA's 2019 earning call announced that we are going to see fan-favorite remasters come back, and in January, BioWare's posted a Mass Relay tweet relating to the first Mass Effect game and it's since kicked off an outcry for a Mass Effect trilogy remaster for current generation consoles and the Nintendo Switch. (8)

So, could this be the reason Mike is going to E3/EA Play? Are we finally going to be able to play the trilogy once more in HD quality on many different platforms? We're just going to have to wait and see until June.

And the final story we have comes from Forbes, in an article written by Paul Tassi, apparently Mass Effect, nor Dragon Age were mentioned in EA's 2021/2022 earnings call. Paul paints this as a bad thing because it means we won't be seeing these games for a fair while, or they've been canceled. This is far from the truth because, in their previous earnings call, EA stated that Dragon Age 4 would not be releasing any sooner than April 2022/2023. (9)

So, of course, if the next Mass Effect and Dragon Age games aren't coming out for at least another 2 years, then there's no reason to mention them in your earnings call. With that, we can expect the next Mass Effect title to release in no time soon.

Let me know what you're thinking about the future of Mass Effect, where would you like to see the series go from here, how could Mass Effect make an epic come back?

Sources in the video description! 

[jackdawyt]

What's Next For Mass Effect?

A Mass Effect video in 2019? You bet your Pyjak ass! ///////////////////////////////////////LINKZ:///////////////////////////////////////////// Tinfoil Tea P...

Over the years, I've gathered and constructed many concepts and ideas for where this franchise could go from here, so lock yourselves down guys, because we're heading at ludicrous speed into the future of Mass Effect! First up:  

Mass Effect Milky Way Spin-off:

This is probably the best possible way for Mass Effect to return in my opinion, this concept revolves around returning to the beloved Milky Way Galaxy as a new character surrounding an entirely new plot-line in a spin-off fashion.

I’ve always been enchanted by the idea of playing as one of the many races in Mass Effect, embarking on a grand space adventure, perhaps as a mercenary with a small crew, against a more localized threat. At least that's my pitch for now regarding such a spin-off!

This title would encompass origin stories just like Dragon Age: Origins, as an example, if the player were to be an Asari, perhaps they've lived a life on the streets of Omega, fighting for scraps and living in poverty, experiencing the true harshness of this urban lifestyle that Omega entails.

This could be a completely different narrative as to someone else who perhaps plays as a Volus growing up on Illium, or aQuarian living nomadically on a fleet. Either race the player picks, they'd always end up with the same goal.

From any lifestyle, perhaps the player would become a highly-skilled mercenary or freelancer, acquiring a ship for the first time in their life, building a squad and opposing a smaller threat within the Milky-Way. Just a quick, role-playing influenced idea there...

However, on the flip of that, perhaps the player and their squad are able to fit the role of anti-heroes within the galaxy, fulfilling a sort of 'Guardian's Of The Galaxy' archetype, allowing the squad to be slightly more antagonistic than ever before.

Even scrap that idea and let the players just be antagonists in this world, let's have a Mass Effect game where we can be villainous, and stir up trouble in the Terminus System! I'm not rightly speaking on being a grand evil, I'm more for the idea of playing as a mercenary leader, experiencing a life of crime in a condensed space opera tied to this plot of backstabbings, betrayal and complete espionage.

Perhaps sneaking through the backstreets of Omega, assassinating contracts, smuggling and stealing resources, hacking into operations and even just blatant bank robberies, in Mass Effect's fashion of course!  

It'd be a complete change-up from the previous Mass Effect titles, and the way I see this concept, it's more of a back to the roots of BioWare. They'd be a huge emphasis on character creation and freedom, with a story inspired by pen and paper role-playing games, inspiring more of a D&D feel than anything!

In any case, this scenario would allow me to fulfil my many fantasies of playing as one of the very many Mass Effect races, with a fun, jaded and morally grey narrative to boot, right back in the Milky-Way! With even the possibility of coming across so many of the beloved Milky Way characters that appeared in the original trilogy.

Perhaps not as simple as it sounds, but possibly this title could be a 'Mass Effect 4' set after Mass Effect three's events, this could be done if BioWare gave way to retconning three's ending. After accomplishing that, perhaps you could just pop this concept within the time-space after the Milky-Way is saved thanks to Shepard and Co.

Again though, this is just one of my fantasies, I could talk about this concept all day, perhaps I may do another video one day just on expanding this idea, for now though, we've got other ways to consider!

Andromeda Sequel - continuation of Mass Effect Andromeda's narrative, crafted by original dev's:

The next possibility surrounds the Andromeda Galaxy, within the game - Mass Effect Andromeda, the developers did a great job of opening up and setting this galaxy as a new narrative. The team were expecting on creating a trilogy within that space, they've planted plenty of seeds for the future of Andromeda.

So, perhaps with the original developers of the trilogy on hand, we could potentially return to the Andromeda Galaxy.

Of course, I've got a few ideas of how this could work!

The simplest concept is just a basic Andromeda sequel, perhaps fulfilling the repressing role as Ryder once more and picking up where things were dropped off. It'd be simple, however, I don't think it'd be a good idea just considering the flack both Ryder and Andromeda's narrative got. it's still an idea though!

A better and more efficient way for Mass Effect to return to the Andromeda Galaxy is to simply set the events of the next title 500 years ahead. Allowing all of Andromeda's ongoing political turmoil, misguided narratives and just general settlement of humanity and other species on this Galaxy. No more Ryder, no more dull companions, a new pallete in a Galaxy that could've changed dramatically since it's very origin.

With centuries ahead since the last game, new threats and species may have evolved, more characters, different technologies, varied biotic capabilities, etc. A completely unique perspective on Mass Effect, just with the same original team working on this one. Perhaps a different protagonist, not related to the Ryder family with a fresh cleanser of a world, this could be a blank canvas for the Mass Effect franchise to start again.

In the same vein as this concept, however, slightly adapted considering Andromeda's flack...

Andromeda Galaxy meets Milky-Way:

Perhaps the Andromeda and Milky-Way Galaxies could convey a way to correspond and transport - to and from. Sharing an experience with both world-states, creating an incredible way to amalgamate the main games and spin-off together, creating an adventure and narrative that could sprawl between two Galaxies, perhaps there could be an even more apocalyptic threat that risks more than just the destruction of worlds, but instead Galaxies! Rivalling an opponent with the capabilities to wreak supreme havoc, with the help of both the Andromeda and Milky-Way Galaxies, the narrative could easily over-arch, creating a huge space-opera scale of a story!

With this narrative set so far in the future, Mass Effect as a franchise would be recreating itself, with no more tie in's to Shepard or Ryder's adventure, this would be world's apart from either story. Which I guess could be a good or bad thing....

Anyhow, onto the next concept!

A reboot of the franchise:

In a similar vein to games like PS4's God of War, 2013's Tomb Raider and Legend Of Zelda, Breath Of The Wild. Mass Effect could reboot itself following a similar a fashion, each of the mentioned games have accepted the past game's narrative and lore, however, don't particularly regard it, it's not necessary for its new forwarding narrative. God of War, for example, Kratos' previous narrative with the Olympian Gods, doesn't really have much influence in his remembrance of his lover, and new fatherhood revelations. Breath Of The Wild, hardly any of its previous stories sway much within that game's narrative... perhaps Mass Effect could attempt such a reboot for a future title.

Simply done by creating a new title, set it in the Milky-Way disregarding the previous events and continuing on a new adventure. If that doesn't intrigue you, perhaps an entire reboot of the original trilogy, or (as we'd all prefer) perhaps a reboot of Andromeda's story. Taking this new direction towards the discovery of the Andromeda Galaxy into an exciting, encapsulating narrative with the OG team helming the way, as it was supposed to be.

At best, this concept works as a retconning for a future title, ignoring or only subtly mentioning the past, perhaps as a reboot of the previous games, or a new adventure entirely!

The final potential future for Mass Effect comes from one of my Swallow-Bird Patrons.

Eli Deason:

"They really need to do the First Contact War. It's been hinted at for so long, that the hype behind it might put them back into the good books for most fans. It's also a very important part of the Mass Effect universe, that deals with Humanities first attempts at colonization and first contact with an alien species."

Prequel:

I agree partly to this concept, I'd love a prequel of Mass Effect, simply so I could go back and witness key events and characters that have shaped the experiences we cultivate in the trilogy. For instance, It'd make for an encapsulating story if we, as a human were to be one of the few to travel into the first Mass Effect relay for the first time in history, going through that Charon Relay with an entire squad of humanities best, would be an enthralling experience!

Witnessing character's like Alec Ryder, Ashley's grandfather, etc. We'd see Jack Harper, before he became the Illusive Man, fighting in a galactic war against the Turians. Plenty of previous narratives could unfold, setting the way for the trilogy, and as much as that sounds like a great idea, we all know the ending of it all.

This narrative's been told thousands of times within the games, books, comics, etc. It's a sold story, I feel to go back to that, maybe slightly underwhelming, I think it's a great idea, especially seeing previous characters before they develop, witnessing their origin stories, but again this ship has already sailed, we know those plots already. It'd just be a rehash in my opinion.

Anyhow, guys, that'll do it for me today regarding the future of Mass Effect, tell me down below where you'd like to see this shelved franchise going from here on out. But for all your things BioWare, you're already in the right place!

[thewalkingdeadmasseffect]

I'm getting sentimental and nostalgic about Mass Effect again. No other game apart from The Walking Dead has ever made me so immersed and so interested in the characters that I have cried when they died. I don't think any other game will make me feel so involved in the story because it was so personal to me, I made Shepard as similar to me as possible. 

I don't care that Mass Effect 4 won't feature Shepard and all the squadmates I got attached to, I just want to see more stories play out in that universe. I can't wait for that 'first playthrough' feeling I got when I played the first three games. I am most excited about the different squad mates that will be in the next game, with their personalities and special powers and how they will be integrated into the story. And then also working out who I am going to romance for my 'canon' playthrough.