N7 Day Surprise
On November 7th, BioWare announced that they are releasing a remaster of the original Mass Effect Trilogy. The announcement was done via the official Mass Effect Twitter account, as well as through a blog post. This remaster will come in the form of Mass Effect Legendary Edition. It will consist of all three games, accompanied by all their expansions and corresponding additional content. The Mass Effect Legendary Edition is set to be available in Spring 2021.Although the first three Mass Effect games are backward compatible with Xbox current-gen consoles, they were not updated to the degree that the Legendary Edition will. However, these are not reimaginings nor are they remakes of the games. According to BioWare, these are remastered. Furthermore, the changes include updating shaders, models, textures, effects, and technical features. The trilogy will be available on both current and next-gen consoles. This includes Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC. BioWare says they will have more information to come in the new year.Your choices. Your squad. Your Shepard. Relive the legend in a remastered edition of the highly acclaimed trilogy. Mass Effect Legendary Edition arrives Spring 2021. https://t.co/qbWVibXuQI pic.twitter.com/ecR6rnN8DP
— Mass Effect (@masseffect) November 7, 2020
An Ever-expanding Universe
Casey Hudson, general manager at BioWare and widely regarded due to his work on the Mass Effect franchise said:Meanwhile here at BioWare, a veteran team has been hard at work envisioning the next chapter of the Mass Effect universe. We are in early stages on the project and can’t say any more just yet, but weโre looking forward to sharing our vision for where we’ll be going next.The franchise continues to grow. After announcing the remastered original trilogy, Hudson mentioned that they are working on the next Mass Effect title. No further details were given other than that they are in the early stages of the game. After the mixed reception that Mass Effect Andromeda had, many fans of the series lost faith in the future of the franchise. Although Andromeda was not regarded as dearly as the original trilogy, there is room for growth, and one can only hope that BioWare has gathered enough data to create a one of a kind experience.