"Mass Effect Andromeda" made its long-awaited debut on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One last week and to no one's surprise managed to make the top of the UK Sales Charts this week. Most interesting in the sales numbers is that getting released early on the Xbox One, for those who have EA Access seems to have hurt sales a bit. A deep dive of the numbers shows that when it comes to UK sales, the PS4 led all platforms when it comes to units shipped. That is in line with what we've heard about "Mass Effect Andromeda." Early reviews have said the game starts out slow and gets better the longer its played.
10-hour trial hurt, not helped 'Mass Effect Andromeda'
Since EA Access started doing a 10-hour trial for all EA games, it's been hit or miss as to whether its helped drive sales. For games like "Mass Effect Andromeda" there tend to be limits on how far you can get into the game. Reviews online have been talking about how the gated entry into this title have made the game look a bit worse than it is. It's possible this is the reason the PS4 version sold more units. Those who were looking to play the game on the Sony side didn't get to see the preview and therefore weren't turned off by the slow start. As Dualshockers points out, the sales numbers split isn't close. 55 percent of sales occurred on the PS4, compared to 41 percent on the Xbox One and just four percent on PC.
Bioware still trying to get it right
One of the reasons "Mass Effect Andromeda" has been met with some rather sharp criticisms is because the facial animations have been a bit wonky. Sara Ryder, in particular, has been outfitted with a kind of sarcastic perma-smile. That expression doesn't go along with some of the more dramatic moments of the game.
Developer Bioware has said it is working on patches that will fix these kinds of issues. There has been at least one post-launch patch issued so far, but the facial issues remain. What has been added is a brand new multiplayer APEX mission. These APEX missions are Bioware's attempt at keeping players coming back, even after they've completed the rather long single player story.
