EA had a big conference at gamescom yesterday, but the focus was largely on FIFA, Titanfall 2 and Battlefield 1. Where’s Mass Effect Andromeda?!? The reason for the absence, EA told Game Informer, is because it isn’t the right time yet.
When asked about concerns from fans who haven’t seen anything of much substance yet, EA’s Executive Vice President Patrick Soderlund said it’s coming soon. "You'll get [your first look at gameplay] in the not too distant future," Soderlund told Game Informer. "I get people want to see gameplay and 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?'
The reason for the no-show is so EA can focus on the games being released sooner. “It's strictly that the game will get the right type of exposure at the right time and that we can the right voice for it,” Soderlund said. “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."
We know Mass Effect Andromeda isn’t coming out until early 2017, and gamescom was the last big event to showcase a new trailer or gameplay footage. If EA has opted to wait for Mass Effect Andromeda, it’s likely there could be major announcements coming from a separate event. N7 Day is coming up Nov. 7; maybe this is the year we’ll see a big blow-out from BioWare.
There is still good Mass Effect news that’s come out of gamescom, however. It seems EA has changed its mind about remakes and remasters. “ I think there is even more clear evidence that this [a remake/remaster] is something that people really want,” Soderlund said. “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.”
One thing Soderlund does mention is that if EA were to start down the remake/remaster road, they would want to give attention and care to releases. "A remaster is something that you can just do or do it really well. I want to make sure that if we were to do it, we would do it really well and that people feel that it's the same game but it feels so much better in this new shape and form,” he said. “There have been titles that have come out that have done it really well, and there have been others that maybe haven't done it so well. We just want to make sure that we stay in the 'done it really well' camp."
So what do you think? Do you want to see the Mass Effect trilogy get remastered or remade? Do you want to know more about Mass Effect Andromeda? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
