14 DAY TRIAL // Mass Effect 2 has been out for less than a week and, although BioWare is promising long term support for their space-based action role playing title via downloadable content, most gamers are already thinking about the game that is supposed to end the trilogy, one, which might or not star Commander Shepard and which optimists are expecting to see released in late 2011. The leaders of BioWare seem ready to talk about it.
Ray Muzika, who is one of the co-founders of BioWare and currently in charge of overall RPG and MMO development at Electronic Arts, told Eurogamer during an interview that there was “lots more content planned we have a separate team dedicated to building PDLC in parallel with the main game team, who have gone on to work on the next installment in the Mass Effect trilogy!”
He also revealed that going into the creation of the third game, the team would likely employ a process similar to that employed for the second installment. The company will take a look at the reviews written for Mass Effect 2 and at the fan feedback that comes through the official social space at BioWare and only then will it decide which elements will make it unchanged into Mass Effect 3 and which will be heavily modified or even ditched altogether.
An official announcement might arrive as soon as this year's E3 trade show, but clear features related to the game will be unveiled a bit later. Meanwhile, gamers will have their hands busy playing the DLC, which will arrive for Mass Effect 2.
When the moderator of the discussion wondered whether BioWare was thinking about introducing cooperative play to their role playing experience, he responded by saying that “In Mass Effect? No, it wasn't planned. Interesting idea though!” Don't be surprised if Commander Shapard gets a human-controlled companion in Mass Effect 3.