When it comes to grand space opera games, few can match the ambition of BioWare's revered RPG series, Mass Effect. Ever since the announcement of a new installment back in 2020, the Canadian studio has been tight-lipped about the game's development - until now.
In a recent blog post addressing the future of Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare's general manager, Gary McKay, provided fans with a brief update on the highly anticipated untitled Mass Effect game, stating: For Mass Effect, we continue pre-production with a core team of veteran storytellers who are bringing the deep franchise history forward in a spectacular new way. After the underwhelming storyline of Mass Effect: Andromeda, it's certainly a relief to know that the developers are taking the franchise in a fresh direction. The inclusion of seasoned storytellers for the next installment is a promising sign. The previous title, which hit the gaming scene in 2017, faced a barrage of negative reviews, leading Bioware to scrap its planned DLC.
In a rather bittersweet chain of events, Star Wars: The Old Republic, which has been showing signs of age, didn't receive the same uplifting news. The 2011 MMORPG PC game will be handed off to a third-party studio called Broadsword Online Games. Led by BioWare VP Rob Denton, who has previous experience with SWTOR, the studio is known for its work on Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot.