Thus far our current generation of consoles is being defined by the plethora of remasters of last-gen games. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered. Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The Last of Us Remastered. Batman: Return to Arkham. BioShock: The Collection. The Elder Scrolls V: Skryim – Special Edition. The only major publisher that hasn’t yet jumped on the remaster bandwagon is Electronic Arts.
In fact, in a 2015 interview with Game Informer, Patrick Soderlund, executive VP for EA studios said the company was making new projects rather then updating old ones. EA COO Peter Moore also echoed that sentiment to IGN.
But the winds have changed. Remastered editions have become big sellers. EA arguably holds one of the most beloved franchises from last-gen in Mass Effect. While there’s been no official confirmation, Soderlund did admit to Game Informer’s Mike Futter during Gamescom that it’s a very real possibility: “I think there is even more clear evidence that this is something that people really want. The honest answer is that we are absolutely actively looking at it. I can’t announce anything today,” Soderlund said, “but you can expect us most likely to follow our fellow partners in Activision and other companies that have done this successfully.”
Soderlund also said that any remasters would need to be high quality. “I want to make sure that if we were to do it, we would do it really well. People would feel like it’s the same game but so much better in this new shape and form.”
Timing is also a major factor for a remaster release. Activision, for example, is releasing the Modern Warfare remaster alongside the new Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.
We still don’t know much about the new upcoming Mass Effect Andromeda. During E3 we only got a brief teaser trailer. It stars a new character instead of Commander Shepard. Soderlund teased that we’ll learn more about it after the holidays. Mass Effect Andromeda is currently scheduled for a 2017 release. An official announcement for a Mass Effect Trilogy Remastered would go along quite nicely.
