Mass Effect 4 gets new engine and direction

The next Mass Effect game will be built on a new engine, and will mark a new direction for the series, according to Bioware Studio Director Yanick Roy.

In a post on the Bioware Blog, Roy gave an update on the studio’s progress and dealt some details regarding the future of Mass Effect.

A big change is that development duties have moved over to Bioware Montreal, as the Canadian studio will continue the franchise from Montreal Edmonton.

Other details include that the next ME game will run on a beefed-up version of the Frostbite engine, and it will be “enhanced by some of the systems the Dragon Age III team has already spent a lot of time building.”

The new direction will also see a new protagonist stepping into the limelight, as Commander Shepard’s story is all wrapped-up for the time being.

“The other thing I can tell you is that, while it will be very respectful of the heritage built over the course of the first three games, with the original trilogy now concluded and the switch over to a new engine, we are exploring new directions, both on the gameplay and story fronts. You can still expect the pillars the franchise is known for to be fully intact though, including diverse alien races, a huge galaxy to explore, and of course rich, cinematic storytelling.”

The Montreal studio won’t be going in blind though, as the team worked with the Edmonton studio with Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, particularly the multiplayer component.