Littered with bugs, graphical anomalies, and myriad engine quirks that negatively impacted the game's story delivery, Andromeda was, and is, a poster child for "delay and polish." For whatever reason, though, EA felt it was ready to be shipped as a total mess, albeit with the makings of a tremendous game beneath it all.
Regardless, BioWare heard the feedback loud and clear, and its Montreal studio committed itself to issuing bug fix patches, and even cosmetic upgrades in response to the negative outcry. Sadly, though, it might all be in vain if this report is to be believed.
Update May 11th, 2017: We've since spoken to some of our own sources regarding this story, with two saying that Kotaku's report contains some truths, and some "inaccuracies." Although our sources declined to say which parts were inaccurate, we can confirm that staff from BioWare's Montreal studio are working on other products, including EA Sports titles as well as Battlefront II and BioWare's project "Dylan." We'll let you know if we get more information on the so-called "hiatus" of the Mass Effect series, but it could be a simple case of waiting until BioWare's main studios have some room in their schedules.
Original Story:
According to Kotaku, four sources have said that EA is stripping BioWare Montreal of developers, moving them onto other projects such as Battlefront II, and BioWare's mysterious new IP, codenamed "Dylan." BioWare Montreal, who before Mass Effect Andromeda has never made a game of its own, has been relegated to a support studio, and will provide work for EA's other titles.
BioWare Montreal previously made Mass Effect 3's multiplayer component, and it looks like that's the type of work the team will be given moving forward.
When it comes to Mass Effect itself, however, EA has apparently put the franchise on "hiatus," with no follow up planned for Andromeda, save for bug fix patches.
BioWare provided a typical PR response when asked for comment:
"With our BioWare and Motive teams sharing studio space in Montreal, we have BioWare team members joining Motive projects that are underway. We're also ramping up teams on other BioWare projects in development. There will be much more to come from BioWare in the years ahead."
It's unlikely that the Mass Effect franchise is dead, given it's staunch fanbase and IP recognition, but BioWare seems all-in on service-based games right now, namely Star Wars: The Old Republic, and the mysterious "Dylan" project, which has been tipped as a Destiny competitor.
The sad news is, that it doesn't seem at all likely we'll get any answers left behind by Andromeda's ending, which seemed primed for both story-based DLC or sequels. It's a damn shame, because under all the filler, bugs, and, general blandness, there beats the heart of a true Mass Effect game in Andromeda, that could've been realized with a delay.
Regardless, you can check out my review of Mass Effect: Andromeda below if you're curious, otherwise, let us know what you think in the comments. I suspect some of you have interesting opinions about this. If this is all true, I'm willing to lay blame at EA for not delaying Andromeda, faithful readers.
