The trilogy of Mass Effect has many iconic scenes that BioWare wanted to release as statues in their own store. The first figure in the series caused quite a stir and was quickly removed because the team wanted to think about a better overall concept.
According to BioWare, the figure was supposed to serve as a “conversation starter” and was offered at a price of 135 US dollars. A total of 2,000 copies of the statue were produced, which made pre-order customers happy to have snagged one of the limited editions. However, BioWare has now canceled all pre-orders and halted the presale.
Attention, Spoiler: The following two paragraphs contain a story spoiler for the beginning of Mass Effect 2. If you haven’t played the title yet and want to experience it unspoiled, it’s best to read on after the video that appears.
What does the figure represent? The approximately 15 cm tall statue is the corpse of the female variant of Commander Shepard, frozen and lifeless, drifting in space. At the beginning of Mass Effect 2, we see the dead body floating among the debris of the Normandy after Commander Shepard was previously thrown into space.
This is one of the most iconic game openings in video game history. It would indeed be a conversation starter, albeit a macabre one. Precisely for this reason, BioWare probably wanted to capture the tragedy in a figure.
The Legendary Edition combines all three parts of Mass Effect:
Statue of Mass Effect causes criticism among fans
How are the players reacting? The statue caused many fans to shake their heads due to its motif. The players call the statue “questionable”, and some even find the motif “terrible”. For this reason, BioWare felt compelled to remove the figure from sale and cancel the pre-orders:
The statue was supposed to be part of a series in which iconic moments from Mass Effect are depicted as figures. Since BioWare did not provide enough information during the announcement, the sale is now paused.
Now, pre-order customers are speaking out, disappointed by the halt in sales. Here are some voices from users who would have kept the figure on sale:
- Rvhochi: “It was questionable, but no one was forced to buy it…”
- T00metal: “Please bring it back for presale, that was hilarious.”
- Milabanilla: “[…] Everyone who was offended needs to calm down. You don’t have to like the merch. Just move on and don’t buy it. Don’t ruin it for other people who thought it was pretty cool. […]”
In contrast, there are users who advocate for a halt in sales:
- Kitsune_Reinara: “Thank you, that was tasteless. If you want to commemorate, a replica of the memorial we set up near the Normandy SR would be the best thing to do.”
- stufflikehearts: “It is really a terrible figure. There are other popular figures you could use for something like this.”
- JHCL56: “Thank you, that was like a slap in the face for those of us who love FemShep. I appreciate that you acknowledged our discomfort and concerns.”
It remains to be seen how BioWare will handle the planned statues in the future and whether the mentioned figure will return to the lineup. Not only did the statue cause heads to shake, even some scenes from Mass Effect elicited plenty of cringeworthy moments: Former story writer from BioWare has to “cringe” at the thought of a series about Mass Effect
