Will BioWare finally announce the official release date of "Mass Effect 4" this year?
Video Gamer reported that the gaming studio could finally announce the release date of "Mass Effect 4" during E3 2015 convention, which will most likely hit shelves on March 2016.
According to Wedbush analyst, Michael Pachter, "Mass Effect 4" is included in the upcoming games to be released either this year or Q1 of next year.
"FY:16 is expected to feature incremental releases Mass Effect 4, Mirror's Edge 2, a new Need For Speed game, and Star Wars: Battlefront, as well as meaningful re-orders for Battlefield Hardline, which launched in late Q4:15."
In addition to release date news, DSOGaming reported that the game's setting will take place in Helius Cluster, but Commander Shepard will no longer be on it.
"The next Mass Effect game takes place in the Helius Cluster (a cluster of 100s of solar systems in the Andromeda Galaxy), far removed by time and space from Commander Shepard's heroic acts and the final events of the Mass Effect trilogy," the leaked details said.
"You are a pathfinder, a combat trained but un-tested explorer leading an expedition into the Helius cluster to establish a new home for humanity. As you explore this sprawling series of solar systems (over 4x the size of Mass Effect 3), collecting resources and building colonies, you will encounter the savagery of untamed lands in the form of cut-throat outlaws and warring alien races. To survive and colonize the wild reaches of space, you will need to grow your arsenal, your ship, your crew and make strategic (and often uneasy) alliances to fight against increasingly menacing foes. Along the way, you will encounter the remains of a once powerful and mysterious alien race, the Remnant, whose forgotten technology holds the key to gaining power in this region of the galaxy. As you uncover who the Remnant were, and the mysteries their ruins contain, you are drawn into a violent race to find the source of their forgotten technology that will determine the fate of humanity."
It's been highly speculated that Shepard and his team will not be returning to "Mass Effect 4" following lead writer Mac Walter's statement.
"Well, I can't get into details, but the idea is that we have agreed to tell a story that doesn't relate necessarily to any of the Shepard events at all, whatsoever," he revealed to IGN.
"That's what we've been deciding for a while. But throughout it all, one of the key things is that it has to be 'Mass Effect.' It can't just feel like a spin-off. It has to feel like a 'Mass Effect' game at its heart, at its core. Just without the Shepard character or the Shepard specific companions."
BioWare is said to offer a new multiplayer campaign for "Mass Effect 4" one it hit shelves.
"If anyone is concerned that online will take away from single player, I assure you that SP will be MASSIVE in the next Mass Effect," Wynn tweeted.
Things are getting real now and I need an excellent Producer to come shape online for the next Mass Effect - https://t.co/L4G3OBAn87 - Chris Wynn (@The1Wynn) February 11, 2015
