During E3 2015, EA Studios Executive Vice President Patrick Soderlund talked about how it made more sense for them and their developers to work on new projects, rather than remastering old games. Thanks to the success of recent remasters from other companies though, Soderlund now says they’ve changed their thinking on bringing back older games.
Speaking with Soderlund at gamescom, Game Informer brought up the fact that, at E3 2015, EA and Activision were the two biggest publishers who shied away from remasters, but since then, Activision has remastered a number of games. Asked if their stance has changed in the last year, and if there could be a Mass Effect Trilogy remaster, Soderlund replied:
What’s changed is that there is proof in the market that people want it, maybe more than there was when we spoke. There were some that did it before, but I think there is even more clear evidence that this is something that people really want. 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.
Adding that “we have to be careful in choosing the right brands for the right reasons at the right time” for remasters, Soderlund says they 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.”
As for Mass Effect Andromeda, which is coming out in early 2017, Soderlund says it’s still on track and he even played through the first three hours recently. When asked about its absence from events like E3 and gamescom, he said the first look at gameplay will happen “in the not too distant future.” Right now though, EA is focused on their big titles coming out later this year. “When that’s done, we’ll shift to Mass Effect,” he added. “You’ll see a lot more very shortly.”
Do you think EA should release a Mass Effect Trilogy remaster before Andromeda?
[Source: Game Informer]
