It’s been mentioned before and while EA Studios boss Patrick Soderlund teased Electronic Arts possibly remastering the original Mass Effect trilogy, there are plenty of reasons why it hasn’t happened yet. CCO Peter Moore told IGN that while it could stand to make easy money from the remasters, it’s focused on Mass Effect Andromeda. Also, the company is more concerned with delivering new experiences rather than revisiting the past.
“We’re a company that is focused on delivering for the future. I was asked a question once [about remasters and I said] it’s just not what we do. We’ve got incredibly talented dev studios around the world who are focused on delivering new IP, new experiences, [and] more and more live services.
“Can we make an easy buck on remastering Mass Effect? Yes. Have a thousand people asked me that? Yes, they have. We just feel like we want to go forward. There’s a little thing called Mass Effect: Andromeda that we’re totally focused on at BioWare and it’s gonna be magnificent.”
Speaking more about the Andromeda focus, Moore confessed that it doesn’t have teams lying around to just assign to remastering older titles. “Do we have teams lying around that are doing nothing right now that [can go and make remasters]? No we don’t. We want to focus on the future and delivering new IP and new experiences. There’s easy money to be made all over this industry. But the real focus should be on being player-first and focused on delivering new IP and new experiences and that’s where our real focus is.”
“Is there demand? Yes, there’s thousands of people who want it. Do we need millions? I don’t know. Our blinders are on and [we are] looking toward future.”
Moore is also aware about the demand for sequels like Skate 4 to emerge, making remasters an even harder choice. “We’re a 34-year-old company that has thousands of pieces of IP around the world. Road Rash! If you allow yourself to take the easy road – not to diss remastering great franchises, but there are so many opportunities for us to have people go to something else.”
Still, never say never. Mass Effect Andromeda is currently scheduled for an early 2017 release.