Mass Effect 3 beta leaked online

A closed beta for Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer component was reportedly leaked on Xbox Live today. It was up only for a short time before EA pulled it down, and it weighed around 1.8 gigs. The download’s obviously no longer available anymore, but several players were able to play through single player sections, watch some cutscenes and have a look at the Origin-based menus as well.

Users on the NeoGAF forums captured screenshots and videos of the demo, including several features such as character creation, Galaxy at War and of course, some of the gameplay itself. It’s pretty clear that the game is not on its final build yet, with some texture and sound issues, but it looks great nonetheless. You can watch one of the captured videos below:

This is probably the same demo that BioWare will be releasing in January.

BioWare has responded to this leak on on its official forums.

“As most of you know by now, this evening an accidental leak occurred of some early Mass Effect 3 beta code,” says BioWare’s Jesse Houston. “Microsoft has advised us that through human error at their end, content which was meant for internal beta testing was flagged incorrectly and released to individuals who had signed up for the beta of the Xbox Live dashboard update. It has since been taken down and deactivated.

We’d like to stress that the leaked code is in a rough, unfinished state and was not meant for public release. The content is not final, and is not reflective of the quality of the finished, polished game due for release on March 6, 2012 (March 9 in Europe).

One feature that was present in this early build is a set of game play modes that are in development. In the beta code they are referred to as “action mode”, “story mode” and “RPG mode”. We want to stress that these features are still in the early stages of development and will receive considerable iteration and refinement. These modes are designed to give players an even finer degree of control over their game experience than ever before. Whether it be someone who finds the combat difficult but wants to experience the amazing story, someone who wants to focus on the action and combat game play, or fans who want the rich, story-driven RPG Mass Effect experience they’ve come to love – Mass Effect 3 will support all of these options. We’ll have more info in the days ahead!”

Stay tuned for continued coverage.