Mass Effect: Andromeda is arguably the most controversial entry in the space opera RPG series. The response to the game was so negative at the time that BioWare and EA canceled the planned DLC. Even with the AAA game receiving mostly negative reviews, its game director wanted to make a sequel.
In a recent interview with Eurogamer, Mass Effect: Andromeda game director Mac Walters shared that he would have liked to make a sequel. The director believed that BioWare would have been able to correct what was wrong with the first game.
He compared the improvements from Mass Effect to Mass Effect 2, and eventually Mass Effect 3. Each new game in the series made big leaps in terms of gameplay and overall player experience. Many of the criticisms levied against Andromeda concerned performance and bugs, which were solved with patches later on.
"I only wish we had been able to then do a second one, because then you would have really seen that polish just like we did from [Mass Effect] to [Mass Effect 2] on the original [trilogy]," Walters said of a potential Mass Effect: Andromeda sequel. "With Mass Effect, arguably there [are] lots of things that we didn't do right, but then we got to hone it and improve it on [Mass Effect 2], and then perfect it on [Mass Effect 3]."
He adds, "And certainly had we shipped an Andromeda 2, I am a hundred percent certain we would have improved on all the things that people called out and then also been about to lean into the innovative things that we were trying to do as well."
Mass Effect: Andromeda had a lot of issues with its development and it was originally planned to have a procedurally-generated game universe similar to No Man’s Sky. "Ultimately, that was too much at odds with a lot of the way that we tell stories," Walters said, "and the way that we create our content, which tends to be very bespoke—a lot of big set-pieces and things like that. It's hard to translate into a procedural world."
The game shipped with a lot of graphical and gameplay issues. BioWare did work on the title, releasing patches and updates to make it a bit better. However, the updates could not fix the game’s reputation and the deluge of negative reactions.
After Mass Effect: Andromeda and Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, Walters would become production director for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. In January, Walters announced that he was leaving BioWare after 19 years of service. BioWare Montreal, the studio that worked on Andromeda, was demoted to a support studio and later merged with EA Motive.
BioWare is currently working on a new Mass Effect title even with Walters departing from the company. Fans are calling the untitled sequel "Mass Effect 4", which will be set long after - but within Liara's lifetime - Mass Effect 3. Teasers indicate that the game's story will involve both the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxies.
The newest installment in the Mass Effect series will be made by BioWare Edmonton. Mass Effect 4 will be using the Unreal Engine. The game is currently in pre-production as BioWare is focusing on the upcoming Dragon Age: Dreadwolf which is coming out next year.
