BioWare Delays Space Epic Mass Effect Andromeda Until Early 2017

Fans of the Mass Effect franchise are going to have to wait just a little bit longer for the fourth title in BioWare's third-person sci-fi shooter, Mass Effect: Andromeda, which the developer confirmed has been delayed until "early 2017." In the meantime, BioWare promises another update at the EA Play conference on June 12.

The delay isn't a total surprise. Electronic Arts CFO Blake Jorgensen hinted that things were slightly off schedule during a recent earnings call. He said at the time that Mass Effect: Andromeda would release in EA's fourth fiscal quarter, which works out to the first quarter of 2017 for the rest of us. BioWare's subsequent announcement is a confirmation of what many had already been expecting.


"As we’ve been playing the game at the studio recently, it’s showing us that we’re taking the game in the right direction. But we also know we need the right amount of time to make sure we deliver everything the game can be and should be – that’s our commitment from all of us to all of you. Because of that, Mass Effect: Andromeda will now ship in early 2017. We can’t wait to show you how far we’re all going to go," BioWare stated in a blog post.

BioWare is taking Mass Effect to new places. Andromeda will be the first in the series released on modern generation consoles, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and also the first Mass Effect game built on the Frostbite engine (Frostbite 3) developed by EA Digital Illusions CE. Other games using the Frostbite 3 engine include Need for Speed, Star Wars Battlefront, Mirror's Edge Catalyst, EGA PGA Tour, and the newly announced Battlefield 1.


One of the goals with Andromeda is to give players an unprecedented level of freedom for a Mass Effect title. Beyond that, not a lot of details are available just yet, though we know it takes place a long time after the events in the previous Mass Effect games, and in the Andromeda galaxy.