14 DAY TRIAL // BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk has talked about the studio’s massively successful Mass Effect series, highlighting that its video game nature has made its narrative universe much more popular than those seen in movies or books.
The Mass Effect series has delighted millions of fans from all over the world with a couple of games, several novels and plenty of comic books.
Now, with the third game set to be released early next month, BioWare’s Zeschuk has talked with IGN about the popularity of the series and how its interactive nature ensured players would feel much more connected with its story.
“That's what we set out to do,” Zeschuk said about the popularity of the franchise’s universe. “One thing that video games do is let you achieve a higher degree of immersiveness than most other forms of entertainment. It's not so much a 'hey we're better' argument as much as it is that we have different tools at our disposal.”
Simply making a video game won’t ensure that a narrative universe becomes popular, however, as BioWare has been refining the Mass Effect recipe with each new installment, in order to get more and more people interested in it.
“If you really, really nail it, in the videogame sense and really get that experience right, it sticks with people. Mass Effect has had such a profound impact on the people that like it, they're crazy about it, which is great for us as creators. You couldn't ask for a better situation. It's really rewarding to be part of that kind of passion.”
Mass Effect 3 is set to end the current trilogy of video games that focus on Commander Shepard, the protagonist of the last few games. We’ve already had a quick look at its demo, which includes two single-player missions and two multiplayer levels.
The final game is out for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on March 6, in North America, and March 9, in Europe.