r/masseffect • u/Turbostrider27 • 9h ago

NEWS Bioware is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending

Post image
7.1k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

1.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

•

u/Shepard_Drake 8h ago

Look, we all knew this was coming. It's sad, but not unexpected.

And look, we really don't need a Mass Effect 4. This is coming from someone who has obsessively played it throughout my life, named my dog Shepard (also my username), etc.

I was terrified it would get the treatment so many of these franchises get when the suits in charge decide they want to make more money. I fully believe whatever they did would have most likely tarnished the legacy of the trilogy. It might have added or changed some really dumb stuff, and made everything even worse.

Would I love to return to that universe for new adventures with the characters I love? Sure. But I think we'd all just be chasing something unobtainable from a time that no longer exists. It's like trying to capture lightning in a bottle. The fact is, we have a complete trilogy, and it's ok to appreciate the closure that provides.

Let the masterpiece rest with dignity, you know?

•

u/doc_nano 8h ago edited 7h ago

Yep. As they say: don't be sad it's ending -- be glad that it happened.

Looking at all the colossal blunders made on costly AAA projects, it's a miracle that the ME trilogy came into being at all, and that it's as good as it is. It was truly a lightning-in-a-bottle situation in terms of how everything came together.

I'd have loved spending more time in that universe, but eventually all good things must end.

•

u/jesteR-G3 5h ago

As someone who only recently played through the trilogy for the first time, I’m definitely gutted, but I agree that you are most likely right. It saddened me while playing that I knew the original trilogy was something that the current AAA space precludes as a possibility, and that no indie studio could manage something on a par with what experienced hands did back in 2007-2012 (and I say that as someone who has MASSIVE problems with the ending to 3). Warts and all, it was a great trio of games whose influence and impactful storytelling likely won’t be replicated anytime soon.

•

u/jesteR-G3 5h ago

But as you say, I am just grateful that it happened at all.

•

u/TheDamnNumbersGame 8h ago

Same on not wanting ME4.

Would have preferred a Mass Effect 3 Remake where they fix all the rushed stuff and add ME2 characters as squadmates.

Oh well

•

u/_Atlas_Drugged_ 6h ago

I would have loved another sequel to Andromeda or a Shepherd-concurrent story in the same universe or something, but the Shepherd story had been told.

•

u/crono220 5h ago

I always felt that the final battle on earth should have been much longer and the choices you made earlier on in the game, should have affected the wellbeing of your comrades.

•

u/CraftsmanMan 5h ago

Maybe modders can pick up the reigns, just look at what the crazy shit the vr modding community did with titanfall2 like 2 weeks ago

•

u/erez1oner 6h ago

Completely agree. 👍 well said

•

u/theoriginal_1100 7h ago

If Shepard is from shepard the drake is from the singer?

•

u/Shepard_Drake 7h ago

No lol, Nathan Drake, from Uncharted.

•

u/HansHortio 7h ago

Exactly. Sometimes dead is better.

•

u/BigtheCat542 7h ago

IMO the way to go wouldve been smaller scale, more personal stories.

or, leaning into MMO. ME3 multi couldve worked as a full mmo, or do something like phantasy star.

•

u/blackheartwhiterose 7h ago

All my hopium is now in Exodus

•

u/shepard_pie 7h ago

Brother

•

u/Correct_Pangolin_375 5h ago

ME wanted one more sequel, it'd be better off if it was in the hands of CDPR, both CDPR and BioWare had very good relations with each other during prime days and BioWare "did" give CDPR access to there engine to make Witcher 1, then helped with game publishing in countries like Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and so on. If we want one more ME sequel it'd be best letting CDPR be given the IP rights to it and solely publish it on there terms.

•

u/ParanormalVaccine 5h ago

I really hope Exodus and/or the Expanse recapture some of the magic and begin a new era.

The Mass Effect trilogy to me was perfect. A space odyssey that felt as grand as Star Wars. Gameplay that felt like the best bits of Halo and Gears of War. RPG mechanics that were interesting without being convoluted. An 'open world (galaxy)' that still felt focused. Truly the best of everything that videogames can be. I've spent a long time searching for a game that matches that and I hope eventually we get one.

•

u/iaintreadinthatbud 4h ago

Let’s be real, it already happened and it sucked anyway. Just because they called it Andromeda instead of 4 doesn’t change anything

•

u/Reddexbro 4h ago

You're probably right, but it's still sad...

•

u/EducationalLuck2422 2h ago

I wouldn't have minded a clean-break sequel 200 years later with just Liara, Grunt and Aria and a few easter eggs; that's what Andromeda seemed to have been going for. But it's pretty clear that fans all had different ideas for what that'd look like, and BW itself had no ideas, so oh well.

I just hope the merch store stays open - I need a new hoodie.

•

u/38159buch 1h ago

You hit it exactly, tbh. The mass effect trilogy really feels like “the last chopper out of nam” per-se. One of the last entries in what many would consider the peak of gaming before most games/studios became hypercorporatized slop

•

u/Lucid-Design1225 1h ago

I wholeheartedly agree BUT BioWare going under really really sucks. They made some of my most treasured games. To know the company won’t exist anymore, even if some team members go on to create new games, is a massive blow to my heart.

It isn’t just about Mass Effect, sadly. Though, that is a big one. That trilogy is one of the best in gaming history in my opinion

•

u/Gilgamesh661 15m ago

Agreed about not needing ME4. Not every franchise has to just…keep going. Sometimes a story is finished, even if more CAN be written, it doesn’t mean it should be.

And with how many hurdles they had with the trilogy and andromeda, it’s honestly impressive we even got 4 mass effect games at all.

•

u/stardust1914 0m ago

I feel like this describes Dragon Ages journey for me. None of them ever captured the spark that was Origins. Atleast to me.

Agreed though. Still felt like a gut punch when I read it today. I played KOTOR when I was about 10 or 11 so Bioware has been apart of my gaming life for 20+ years. Just sad to see the Bioware name end like this.

Wonder whats gonna happen to the LA show. Not that I had any high hopes for it.

•

u/CadeOCarimbo 7h ago

We didn't need Mass Effect 1 and yet we got one. What kind of point is that?

•

u/Shepard_Drake 7h ago

These are very different scenarios. ME1 was the beginning of a trilogy. ME4 would be a sequel to a game that already had a conclusion and was originally deemed finished 15 years ago. C'mon now.

•

u/Snivyland 5h ago

Mass effect 3 wrapped most plot points up and let you pick pretty divergent decisions cause if it.

Mass effect 4 doesn’t work without retcons

•

u/CadeOCarimbo 5h ago

You can create infinite new plots from ME lore

•

u/Snivyland 5h ago

Okay explain the genophage, or the geth quarian conflict. These are plot points key to the franchises identity a sequel would feel pressured to even just explore / mentioned. Which would be impossible seeing how you now need to write a story where potential either quarians or geth are extinct.

•

u/CadeOCarimbo 5h ago

you could even go back in time before Shepard was even born.