14 DAY TRIAL // After BioWare announced the launch of From Ashes downloadable content for Mass Effect 3, some fans questioned whether the company chose to put the content in a separate package rather than include the same quests and characters in the core game experience.
Speaking via Twitter, which seems to quickly become the new favorite communication tool for video game developers, Casey Hudson, the leading producer working on Mass Effect 3, stated, “It takes about 3 months from ‘content complete’ to bug-fix, certify, manufacture, and ship game discs. In that time we work on DLC.”
Speaking about manufacturing and content approval, he added, “DLC has fast and no, so if a team works very hard, they can get a DLC done in time to enjoy it with your 1st playthrough on day one. On ME3, content creators completed the game in January and moved onto the ‘From Ashes’ DLC, free with the, or you can buy separately.”
The fan base for Mass Effect 3 has said that they expected for BioWare to introduce the new content in the main storyline of the game and accused the company of basically trying to get more money out of the player base via From Ashes.
The DLC was accidentally revealed by Microsoft when it was posted on the Xbox Live Marketplace, and then BioWare acknowledged its existence and later revealed that it would be launched on all platforms on which Mass Effect 3 was appearing.
BioWare has a long history of adding launch day DLC to its most popular titles and created something similar to From Ashes for the original Dragon Age, with the character Shale and his own adventure line added via post launch content.
From Ashes will allow the player to recruit a new party member, a representative of the Protheans, a race that was presumed to be extinct in the Mass Effect universe.