Electronic Arts is likely to put the franchise Mass Effect Andromeda on hold for now. We believe this is not really due to Mass Effect, but rather due to two other games.
As reported by Kotaku, Electronic Arts intends to suspend the “Mass Effect” franchise indefinitely. The team, BioWare Montreal, is supposed to help develop Star Wars Battlefront 2 and the new project “Dylan”.
Electronic Arts has semi-confirmed this – at least the part about BioWare Montreal collaborating on the two other games seems clear.
There are two ways to read this news …
There are two interpretations of this news in the community, depending on whether one liked Mass Effect Andromeda or not.
One is from fans of Mass Effect Andromeda. They say: Good, that was planned from the beginning. The Mass Effect franchise is not something that needs to be released every year. Long breaks are normal. The second part can easily take 5 years.
The other interpretation is clearly more negative. It says: Mass Effect Andromeda has failed, did not live up to the old trilogy – they want to bury the franchise for now.
I think a third interpretation is the right one
I believe: Both are somewhat correct.
I think:
The decision has less to do with Mass Effect Andromeda and whether the game was good or not, but rather EA needs more personnel for the 2 projects that BioWare Montreal is now working on. Because both projects are much more important to Electronic Arts than a Mass Effect.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 and Dylan are both extremely important for EA – more important than Mass Effect
We know that Star Wars Battlefront 2 is extremely important for EA. 14 million units are expected to be sold. The game is supposed to be much larger than its predecessor. And only a relatively short development time has been allocated. The shooter cannot be postponed. It must be ready for the theatrical release of the new Star Wars film, otherwise, millions will be lost.
And fan expectations are enormous. They do not want to be shortchanged like with the first part.
It is quite possible that Battlefront 2 needs more personnel and know-how to be finished on time.
The same applies to “Dylan”, the semi-MMO that EA is currently developing. This is a long-term multi-million project and of utmost importance for EA: Dylan is a central building block for the next 5 or 10 years. This has already been pushed back – perhaps they want to prevent another delay with the “influx of personnel” from BioWare Montreal and ensure that the game turns out really well.
It has to be good if it wants to succeed in this new trending genre of “MMO shooters”. And there are millions and millions of dollars to be made in the coming years. The direct “competition” from The Division, Destiny, and GTA Online has occupied 3 of the 5 spots in “Top 5 Console Games” in 2016.
Both projects and their success are immensely important for Electronic Arts in the short and medium term. Much more important than a “Mass Effect Andromeda 2.”
Apparently, EA currently believes that the resources of BioWare are more valuable elsewhere than in another Mass Effect.
Here you can find more information about the “pause” of Mass Effect:
Mass Effect: Andromeda is the fourth game in Bioware's Mass Effect universe, but it marks a kind of relaunch of the series. The story takes place hundreds of ye...
