EA Responds to Mass Effect 3 Day One DLC Allegations

Over the weekend, someone posted a video to YouTube demonstrating how Mass Effect 3: From Ashes’ Prothean companion could be unlocked and utilized with all of his dialogue banter simply by changing a single line of code in a vanilla installation of Mass Effect 3. That’s prompted a lot of Internet unrest, obviously, forcing EA to issue a statement to Game Informer explaining why their earlier claims that the DLC was developed after the game went to certification are still true:

“From Ashes is a 600 MB+ download with all new content, including the mission on Eden Prime, new dialogue options and conversations with Javik, new cinematics, the Prothean weapon, and new appearances for all squad members. All of the above content was completed while the main game was in certification and are not available on the disc.

“As stated previously, in order to seamlessly integrate Javik into the core campaign, certain framework elements and character models needed to be put on disc. We did something similar with Zaeed and Kasumi in Mass Effect 2.”

If the character model and voiceover banter were finished before certification, it is more than a little difficult to believe that nothing else was being actively worked on until the final weeks of development. But what’s done is done, so I guess it’s a moot point either way.