While Mass Effect developer BioWare itself may be getting shut down, it looks like EA still has plans for the sci-fi RPG franchise. According to IGN, the company plans to move ahead with the TV adaptation of Mass Effect. Citing “sources inside Prime Video”, the report has noted that production continues at Amazon MGM Studios.
The Mass Effect adaptation has been in the works for quite some time at this point, and no real details about it have been revealed. However, earlier this year, the production faced some criticism over reports indicating that the show was being rewritten to cater to “non-gamers”. Co-showrunner Daniel Casey has since denied these claims, and went as far as to say that the original claims caught him off guard.
“So, I can’t talk about the specifics of what I’m writing (I’ve signed NDAs, etc.) — but for whatever it’s worth, that article by the Ankler caught me off guard just as much as you,” Casey wrote. “I don’t know where that ‘non-gaming audiences’ quote came from or who said it, but at no point has that been said to me.”
The adaptation was seemingly “on the verge” of being greenlit before head of global TV at Amazon MGM Studios, Peter Friedlander, reportedly asked for rewrites so that it could be “more appealing to non-gamers”. No further details about these alleged rewrites have come up.
It is worth noting that Amazon has a spotty track record when it comes to adapting gaming franchises into TV shows. While the live-action adaptation of Fallout has seen plenty of praise from critics and fans alike, others, like Like a Dragon: Yakuza, have been criticized due to the major changes made throughout the story and characters.
As for whether or not Mass Effect would make for a good TV adaptation, the potential show could easily capture the sci-fi adventures of Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy in an episodic manner while still building up to the larger threat looming on the horizon – the Reapers. However, there is also the question of whether this adaptation will follow the original trilogy’s story or if it will attempt to tell an entirely new one with a separate cast of characters.
In the meantime, BioWare announced that it is shutting down earlier this week. In its official blog post, the studio also said that its early development on the next Mass Effect game had come to an end. Later reports have indicated that this is part of large-scale layoffs at EA affecting around 400 employees. In an internal letter to the staff, COO David Tinson and chief studios officer Cam Weber said that many other projects had also been canceled, and that the company was making “deliberate choices” that could “align talent and investments where we see the greatest opportunities for players and long-term growth.
In light of this, a pair of now-former writers on the canceled Mass Effect project have spoken about how much they enjoyed working together at BioWare, and that the title would have been quite cool.
