Mass Effect: Andromeda has been notably absent from this year’s Gamescom, and with it having been largely a no-show at E3 in June too, fans are starting to question whether the indirect follow-up to Mass Effect 3 has found itself in a spot of development trouble.
Worry not, says EA executive VP Patrick Soderlund, as there’s a very good reason why Andromeda isn’t being put in the spotlight just yet. According to an interview with Game Informer, the studio head said that they’re currently focused on giving games being released this year their time to shine, after which, they’ll switch focus to new titles coming in 2017.
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.
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.
A pretty straightforward response then, and one that makes sense, but what about the potential existence of a Mass Effect Trilogy remaster? Previous comments from EA have suggested that the publisher has no real interest in doing such a thing, but it looks like they may have changed their minds in recent months, with Soderlund saying:
What’s changed is that there is proof in the market that people want it, maybe more than there was when we spoke [previously]. There were some that did it before, but I think there is even more clear evidence that this is something that people really want. 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.
To hear that EA are even actively considering a remaster of the original Mass Effect trilogy will be music to many a fan’s ears, but we’ll just have to wait and see if anything comes of Soderlund’s statement.
In the meantime, Mass Effect: Andromeda is set to launch in March 2017 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.