“Mass Effect Andromeda” is perhaps one of the biggest letdowns in recent memory. The game did not meet its sales expectation, leading to Electronic Arts’ decision to put the entire franchise into hiatus and reassigning BioWare to an unknown project. This is without a doubt a huge upset in the part of the players.
Just when fans thought a single-player DLC was coming to “Mass Effect Andromeda,” it was revealed to be nothing but a bad rumor. While it could have been an idea springing from the itself studio, the developers confirmed that, in one way or another, no content of such will be developed.
Clearly, the fate of the series has been sealed.
A saddening end to a great series
According to Forbes, seeing BioWare depart from a highly celebrated series is saddening. They are among the studios able to create some of the most engaging single-player DLCs in the history of gaming. This milestone is even evident in the last three installments of the “Mass Effect” franchise. Hence knowing that no mission expansion will be made for the current game is just disappointing. The publication, however, believes that the studio can still drop its last Ace and make the entire community believe that there is hope in the current iteration.
While that is an interesting story to make, there are valid reasons why the “Mass Effect Andromeda” developer arrived at such drastic situation.
First and foremost, it cannot be denied that the game became a total letdown not only to the fans but also to publisher Electronic Arts. The most viable reason is the game’s poor reception in the market, a factor that hugely affected the game’s needed sales. Fortunately for BioWare, the publisher still opted to give them a chance by assigning them to a new project.
Single-player DLCs are just expensive
One possible factor that also contributed to the downfall of “Mass Effect Andromeda” is the cost it takes to develop single-player DLCs. This content, in particular, is plain expensive and, contrary to popular belief, unattractive. In fact, this scenario is best exemplified by Rockstar Games’ “GTA 5.” The studio developed a single-player DLC for the title, but they later on abandoned it.
Instead, the developers went to make different content for the game, a decision that proved to be a more profitable venture.
Perhaps Electronic Arts and BioWare are just taking a few steps backwards to check and review their future plans for “Mass Effect Andromeda.” Maybe they will continue to support the game, but it will be more about updating its multiplayer with acceptable microtransactions. This should be a profitable decision to the core playerbase. A massive single-player DLC, albeit interesting and compelling, is just a huge risk for a game that has failed to reach sales expectations. It is basically a business decision.
