BioWare is making sure that fans of the Mass Effect trilogy aren't confused about their next game offering. On the BioWare Forums, community developer Chris Priestly is telling people not to call the next game Mass Effect 4, and has explained that the story of Commander Shepard is over.
"To call the next game Mass Effect 4 or ME4 is doing it a disservice and seems to cause a lot of confusion here," said Priestly.
"We have already said that the Commander Shepard trilogy is over and that the next game will not feature him/her. I see people saying, 'Well, they'll have to pick a canon ending.' No, because the game does not have to come after. Or before. Or off to the side. Or with characters you know. Or [sic] yaddayaddayadda. Wherever, whenever, whoever, etc. will all be revealed years down the road when we actually start talking about it," wrote Priestly on the message board.
It looks like the BioWare team is looking for a little preemptive creative freedom, which makes sense. Their last installment, Mass Effect 3, was received enthusiastically by fans, but then later lambasted for its ending, which many found disappointing. Priestly said that the next Mass Effect game is going to be "'what happens next set in the Mass Effect universe', which is far more accurate..." rather than any kind of continuation of the hit trilogy.
"Mass Effect 4" or whatever BioWare would like us to call it, will be running on the Frostbite 2 engine, according to TechnoBuffalo