It is, finally, the last hurrah for Commander Shepard. “Shep” to his friends. “The Shepster” to his close friends. This is making the news rounds but I thought this was already assumed?
Anyway PC Gamer confirmed two things today:
1) Mass Effect as a franchise is too big to just “end” after this 3rd installment.
2) This is The Shepster’s finale.
“Yes,” producer Michael Gamble told us. “After this, Commander Shepard’s story is complete.”
“So even if there are more games in the Mass Effect universe, he/she definitely won’t be in them?
“Correct.”
This sounds a lot like, “this franchise is too profitable to only have three solid games so we’re going to milk it for everything it’s worth until we drive it into the ground Activision-style. Ka-ching!”
You COULD see it that way.
Cynicism!
I mean, I’d probably buy a Mass Effect game centred around Blasto the Hanar Spectre.
Actually, for the really, really close friends, it’s “skipper”. #AshleyWilliamsFans #SingleTeardrop
If I am cynical it is only because I have been conditioned to be so by the publishers in the gaming industry. After watching several innovative studios swallowed whole by the likes of EA and Activision only to see them turned into repetitive mindless cash registers, it’s hard to keep the hope alive.
Why not milk a AAA money-making IP? Its a business. I think retiring this particular storyline and starting a new one in this universe is a great medium between going for the cash and giving the player a great and complete story-experience.