Dragon Age: Inquisition's success won't affect next Mass Effect

Pixel Boost - Dragon Age Inquisition - 19

Dragon Age: Inquisition has enjoyed the most successful launch in Bioware's history. Also, Bioware is working on a new Mass Effect game. Those two unrelated facts have led some to speculate that the next Mass Effect would be altered to fit Inquisition's template. Apparently the theory gained enough traction that Bioware's general manager, Aaryn Flynn, felt the need to step in and clarify.

"All of our games are using Frostbite now," Flynn told NeoGAF. "We've said the next Mass Effect (and our new IP, but I won't expand on that yet) uses some of the technology from DAI. We've been enjoying building larger areas that you can explore with less friction, so that'll be there as well."

There, it seems, the similarities pretty much end.

"After that, the next Mass Effect will be (and should be) drawing on its own rich and successful past more than what DAI would say it should do," Flynn writes. "Take the Mako, something we've already shown in prototype form. We had that in ME1, and bringing it back is more related to a feeling that we can do it much better than we did before and fulfil the original promise of that gameplay. That has nothing to do with DAI. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that dropping the older consoles has had more impact on the overall gameplay goals of the next Mass Effect game than what DAI successfully accomplished.

"We're very proud of what DAI has achieved, but that does not set a "template" for what every other game we make needs to be. Each game franchise needs to innovate and improve their experience based on what's best for it, not just what another game had success with because 'well that was successful'."

I find the need for the response a bit bizarre. Dragon Age and Mass Effect have always been completely separate; both series experimenting in their own directions (and being developed around their own constraints). That has always held true, and to theorise that one (that is presumably quite far along in development) is being changed to match the other seems like fairly cynical armchair speculation.

Thanks, Gamingbolt (via VG247)

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.