Mass Effect Andromeda ‘Done Dirty’ by Publisher EA, Actor Says

One of the lead actors behind BioWare’s Mass Effect Andromeda has spoken out about the game’s disappointing critical and commercial response, and placed much of the blame on publisher EA.

Andromeda launched back in 2017, and had the unenviable job of continuing the Mass Effect franchise following the climactic Mass Effect 3. Gone was Commander Shepard and the beloved Normandy crew, replaced by new customizable hero Ryder and a fresh cast of shipmates. And gone was the saga’s sense of trilogy-closing urgency — reset to a more smaller-scale adventure, designed to place building blocks for later sequels.

Response to Andromeda was mixed, with sky-high expectations from fans clearly not met. Reviews were also middling — not terrible, but not great — and a far cry from the original Mass Effect trilogy.

Work on the game was led by satellite studio BioWare Montreal, while the company’s Edmonton headquarters focused on its big online shooter hope Anthem, and much has been written about how this working setup presented challenges. Reports have also detailed how BioWare Montreal spent a lengthy period exploring the use of procedurally generated planets, until this idea was scrapped and much of Andromeda’s final content was made during the last two years of its development cycle.

Ultimately, Mass Effect fans — clamouring for more from the franchise and unaware of much that had gone on behind the scenes — judged the game on how it released: in an unpolished state with numerous bugs that only exacerbated deeper criticism of its core content and story.

“I think, like many, the game got a bum rap,” Tom Taylorson, the male voice of leading character Ryder, told fansite We Are Mass Effect. “It was done dirty by a publisher expecting too much from it, not being fully cooked, forced out the door too early, forced to use corporate’s shiny new engine when many of the team didn’t know how to work with it and it was NOT suited to the storytelling part of the game.”

Here, Taylorson is referencing Andromeda’s use of EA’s Frostbite game development engine, which the publisher was encouraging all of its studios to utilize at the time. This marked a change from the original trilogy, which was built using the more standard Unreal Engine toolkit, though it’s worth noting that BioWare’s widely-praised Dragon Age: Inquisition was built using Frostbite first. (Frostbite was also used for Anthem and the more recent Dragon Age: The Veilguard, though has been dropped for BioWare’s upcoming Mass Effect 5).

As for criticism that Mass Effect released too early, it’s a point fans could argue either way. Yes, much of the game’s final content was built late on, and felt rough upon release (something that post-launch patches heavily focused on improving). But the game had been given a five-year development cycle by EA overall, with work beginning back in 2012. Compare that to how long EA afforded other games, and Andromeda’s development was hardly a sprint.

“On top of that, it was released to a VERY toxic atmosphere online and elsewhere in the gaming space,” Taylorson continued. “It quickly became punching bag of the week for online chuds for views and clicks. Their love of hate sealed the deal. What saddens me is that this would not be the last time I was in a project doomed by online haters picking a game for Punching Bag of The Week: I also worked on Highguard.

“Over time though, I’ve seen a lot of love for the game and its characters, for what it did well, and appreciation from fans for whom it was their game of the moment. A game that helped them, a game that got them through a tough time. There is something to be said for a 7/10 that comes to you in a time of need.”

Taylorson said he was “disappointed, obviously” in Andromeda’s reception, and “felt terrible” for the BioWare Montreal staff whose work was panned. Ultimately, however, despite months of post-launch patches to improve the game’s base content, EA decided to put the franchise on ice — ending any hope of single-player DLC or direct sequels to Andromeda that could build on its foundations, just as Mass Effect 2 and 3 had with Mass Effect 1.

“It hurt most because I knew that was it — Ryder wouldn’t be coming back,” Taylorson said. “I, and others, thought we’d have a good decade of playing with these characters in these spaces. And just like that — gone.”

While Andromeda never gained a direct sequel, BioWare is now back focusing on its sci-fi franchise with a team of trilogy veterans now building Mass Effect 5. And while the Milky Way is once again its focus, fans have already spotted teases that elements of Andromeda’s story may return. A decade later, for better and for worse, the game’s legacy has clearly not been forgotten.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social