'Mass Effect: Andromeda' news: changes at BioWare put action RPG's future on hold

A promotional image for "Mass Effect: Andromeda." Facebook/masseffect

"Mass Effect: Andromeda" might not offer any new content in the coming months.

Since its March release, "Andromeda" has received mostly negative feedback and middling review scores. However, fans of the "Mass Effect" series are still holding out hope that BioWare will release new content to make the action role-playing game (RPG) more exciting. Gamers have wondered where the sci-fi franchise will go next, but it looks like the answer is nowhere.

Sources familiar with the studio tell Kotaku that "Mass Effect" is currently on a hiatus, including the latest installment "Andromeda." The said game's developer, BioWare Montreal, has been temporarily turned into a support studio for other Electronic Arts (EA) projects. Select BioWare Montreal employees have been transferred to EA Motive to help develop the upcoming shooter "Star Wars Battlefront 2" and the rest of them have been tapped to be part of BioWare's new intellectual property (IP) known as "Dylan."

When reached out for a comment, EA released a statement from studio director Yanick Roy, who seems to have a different take on the matter.

"Our teams at BioWare and across EA put in tremendous effort bringing 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' to players around the world," Roy said. "Even as BioWare continues to focus on the 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' community and live service, we are constantly looking at how we're prepared for the next experiences we will create."

Roy went on to clarify that the studio was ramping up teams on various projects. He also assured fans that BioWare will be offering more in the next few years. "We're also ramping up teams on other BioWare projects in development. There will be much more to come from BioWare in the years ahead," he added.

Aside from new DLCs, fans are still expecting new updates and patches from BioWare to fix issues in the game. Some of the problems encountered by players in "Andromeda" include glitches in animations and character conversations. Patch 1.06 is the latest update that reduces lag for players and hosts in the multiplayer mode.

Developed by BioWare Montreal and published by Electronic Arts, "Mass Effect: Andromeda" is available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC platforms.

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