In a new report, Kotaku says they’ve heard from four sources close to BioWare that the Mass Effect franchise is on hold. The series isn’t dead though, with the sources noting that BioWare is letting Mass Effect sit for a while rather than immediately begin work on a follow-up to Andromeda.
As for BioWare Montreal, the developer of Mass Effect Andromeda, several staff were moved over to EA Motive to help work on Star Wars Battlefront II. Kotaku’s sources add that BioWare Montreal is now a support studio and will help with BioWare’s other games, including their new IP, which was recently pushed to Fiscal Year 2019. BioWare Montreal is also working on improving Andromeda.
In a statement from EA to Kotaku, BioWare Montreal Studio Director Yanick Roy said there will be much more to come from BioWare in the years ahead, but he didn’t say if a new Mass Effect would be one of those things:
Our teams at BioWare and across EA put in tremendous effort bringing Mass Effect Andromeda to players around the world. Even as BioWare continues to focus on the Mass Effect Andromeda community and live service, we are constantly looking at how we’re prepared for the next experiences we will create.
The teams in EA Worldwide Studios are packed with talent, and more than ever, we are driving collaboration between studios on key projects.
With our BioWare and Motive teams sharing studio space in Montreal, we have BioWare team members joining Motive projects that are underway. We’re also ramping up teams on other BioWare projects in development.
There will be much more to come from BioWare in the years ahead.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson said yesterday, “We’re very happy with kind of how BioWare is doing, how BioWare is treating Mass Effect. And our expectations for Mass Effect are still strong for the future and the franchise overall.”
[Source: Kotaku]
