In an interview with Aaryn Flynn regarding the upcoming launch of Mass Effect: Andromeda in early 2017, Game Informer asked the BioWare studio manager just what the status was on the new IP. While obviously Flynn could share little about a game that hasn’t even been announced in an official regard, he was willing to share at some insight into the game’s development status:
To summarize, Flynn states that the game is still in development - it’s even in a playable state - but that BioWare is unlikely to unveil the game until some time after Mass Effect: Andromeda’s launch.
The news that BioWare’s new IP is in a playable state shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. After all, it was in a playable state in 2013 when BioWare first started talking about it. Today’s playable state is different than the last, however.
Further in the interview Flynn states that, while EA’s CEO was impressed, the build he played was “more done” than he’d expected, which could be a telling clue. Even so, the IP must be a ways off if gamers haven’t seen anything substantial from it.
Flynn acknowledges that the new IP can’t even be announced until, “we’ve satisfied fans,” with Mass Effect: Andromeda. That means that not only does Mass Effect: Andromeda have to release in 2017, but it also likely implies that BioWare wants to ensure the success of any big post-launch DLC releases as well. If an announcement regarding the new IP would be seen as distracting, it could very well be pushed back into late 2017 if not 2018. However, one would hope that at that stage the game might even be close to a release state.
What is BioWare’s new IP and how long will fans have to wait to find out? It all remains a mystery, and will remain so for quite some time. The good news though is that BioWare’s still hard at work on it and are excited to share more after Mass Effect: Andromeda has its time in the spotlight.
Source: GameSpot
