All BioWare Studios Working on Mass Effect: Andromeda, EA Open to Further Delays

We’ll have to wait until next Monday to get the first full reveal of Mass Effect: Andromeda, but in the meantime there are still some information tidbits we’ve been able to obtain, thanks to social media and EA’s recent earnings call.

According to the Twitter account of Ian S. Frazier, the game’s lead designer, all of BioWare’s studios are currently working on the title. Obviously, this doesn’t mean literally every BioWare employee is contributing to its development, but it certainly means EA and BioWare are throwing some impressive manpower and budget behind the project:

Fun fact: #MassEffectAndromeda is actually being built across all 3 BioWare studios: Montreal, Edmonton, and Austin. She’s a big game. 🙂

Speaking of which, Electronic Arts is apparently willing to delay the game again if necessary, according to GameSpot’s own report of the words of CFO Blake Jorgensen:

“Right now, Mass Effect is tracking extremely well,” he said about Andromeda. “The game looks beautiful. And we’re really pleased with its progress. However, as you’ve seen, we are willing to make moves in launch dates if we feel it’s necessary to deliver the right player experience.”

If the gameplay is not where BioWare wants it to be, the developer could delay it with EA’s blessing. The delay could be a week, or it could be “three or four or five months” if need be, Jorgensen said.

While I’m certainly worried about what looks like a troubled development for this title, it’s heartening to see that it apparently won’t be rushed out of the door and that it’s getting some pretty significant development resources. I’ve never been a huge fan of the Mass Effect series (I don’t dislike it, but I ultimately don’t feel it ever fully delivered on the experience it wanted to be), but the premise behind Andromeda intrigues me and the fictional universe for the game certainly deserves another shot. I just hope it won’t be bogged down by fetch quests or an excessively intrusive epic plot.