In the post on its website titled “Expanding the Mass Effect Universe,” BioWare declares that the novels will allow the studio to “bring new stories to life outside of the games.” This statement builds upon Titan Books’ explanation that the novels’ plots intend to detail the narrative between Mass Effect 3 and the forthcoming Mass Effect: Andromeda. The developer’s full statement on the matter can be found below.
For those unaware of all the details released thus far about the upcoming Mass Effect books, the first of the four planned is set to release in August of this year, and will be written by author N. K. Jemisin. The second and third entries, which are to come out on March 2017 and September 2017, respectively, have yet to hire writers for their stories.
“Unfortunately, it’s still too early to go into more detail about the books or when they will be released. But don’t worry, we’ll have a proper announcement with all the juicy details at a later date. We are still in the midst of the creative process, but we are working with a talented group of writers to bring these exciting new stories to our fans.”
However, the fourth installment will be penned by the Mass Effect series’ creative director Mac Walters, who recently revealed that the franchise’s Andromeda game will be moving away from the Paragon and Renegade system in favor of a more subtle approach to morality. With this being the case, hopefully the novels will be able to spin yarns that are equally as nuanced.
Whatever the case may be regarding the contents of the new Mass Effect books, BioWare’s Andromeda title seems to be shaping up quite nicely, despite its delay into early 2017. For instance, the developer was confident enough to show its progress not too long ago, as the studio shared footage of its team working on the project in a behind-the-scenes video for E3 2016, which teased the prospect of new alien races and different locations. With any luck, Mass Effect’s books and Andromeda will hit their release windows on time, and be able to deliver an experience as engrossing as the series’ first three games in the franchise.
BioWare’s Mass Effect: Andromeda is set to release sometime in March 2017 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, while the first novel in Titan Books’ series is titled Mass Effect Andromeda Initiation, and is planned to come out in August 2016.
Source: BioWare (via Game Informer)
