The new secret narrative IP from Bioware is progressing well, but don’t expect the story-based title to be released anytime soon.
Fans will probably won't learn more about Bioware’s unannounced game until Mass Effect: Andromeda is done, but based on recent review sessions with EA’s CEO, Andrew Wilson, the title could be “more done” than initially expected.
At least, that’s what Bioware manager Aaryn Flynn hinted at during a recent interview with Gameinformer.
"We're not going to talk about it until we're confident about what it's going to be and everything," Flynn told Gameinformer. "We've been doing reviews with [EA CEO Andrew Wilson], and I think he likes it. So, knock on wood, we'll keep working on it and we'll keep doing it. Hopefully you'll hear more about that once Andromeda's done and we've satisfied fans with that game."
Judging from earlier teases, the new IP has been in a playable state since the end of the 2013, although this was merely an internal build, as can be expected.
“Exciting times around the studio. Playable internal builds of the next Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and new IP. My task today: play 'em all!”, said former Mass Effect and KoToR producer, Casey Hudson, back in December of 2013.
According to Flynn, it’s a privilege to work on a new IP, and the team did a lot of “soul-searching” to determine its direction.
"It's a privilege to get to work on new IP. It's one of those once every ten years kind of a thing that you get to do," Flynn expressed.
"You have to ask yourself, 'Do you want to do something that fiercly different or do you want to do something that's very recognizable?' 'Do you want to take something that you've done and put a spin on it, or do you want to wipe the slate clean and say what would we do in this.' And for us, what we said was we're BioWare, so we have a certain kind of game that we love making and we know our fans would love, so we started with that and that's a game that has as its heart stories and storytelling. So we decided we're going to stick with that. We're not just going to walk away from that."
"Once we agreed on that, everything started to fall into place."
Further in the interview, Flynn stated that the team aims to “push technology” with the new IP, and that it will include believable, relatable characters – something that past job opportunities at the studio also hinted at.
