Don’t Hold Your Breath For An HD ‘Mass Effect’ Trilogy, EA Wants To Focus On Future Games While Sony Says Remasters Help New Fans

As game developers begin to more exclusively embrace the new generation of gaming consoles, fans are beginning to see an increase of popular Xbox 360 and PS3 titles getting new HD re-releases on the newer platforms. However, gamers shouldn’t hope to see their favorite EA titles receive the remastered treatment. That means BioWare’s original Mass Effect trilogy won’t be getting one of those high-res remakes any time soon.

Despite the fact that many Mass Effect fans have been very vocal in expressing their hopes for an HD Mass Effect re-release on the Xbox One and PS4, Electronic Arts’ Patrick Soderlund told Game Informer that they would prefer to see their big development studios work on all-new projects rather than focusing their time on remaking old titles like Mass Effect. Soderlund did admit that discussions have been held about the possibility of a Mass Effect remaster.

“I won’t lie and say we haven’t looked at it. But for us, it’s about weighing where we spend our resources. Is it better for them to be working on a completely new IP, which you know BioWare is, or should they be remastering a Mass Effect?”

For now, however, it seems that an HD remake of last-gen’s Mass Effect trilogy seems unlikely given Soderlund’s statements that the publishing giant would prefer to look to the future. Unfortunately for fans of remasters, this doesn’t just mean that the original Mass Effect games probably won’t come to the Xbox One and PS4. Electronic Arts’ newly revealed stand on game remasters means that players shouldn’t expect to see many of the publisher’s old titles come to new platforms any time soon.

While EA doesn’t seem to be heavily invested in remastering older games, Sony is taking a very different stance on the topic. Speaking to Game Informer in a later interview, Sony’s Shubei Yoshida revealed that they are taking a different philosophy when it comes to remasters. The Sony president of worldwide studios stated that their desire to offer remastered HD collections for series like Uncharted and God of War are intended to introduce these franchises to a brand-new market of consumers.

“The Last of Us Remastered that we released last year was hugely popular. When we look at the number of people who did not own PS3, but do own PS4, those are people who have never tried these games that were very, very popular on PS3.”

Yoshida confirmed that around 40 percent of current Playstation 4 owners never owned Sony’s last-gen platform. That means that a large portion of the PS4’s install base have never tried many of the most popular exclusive titles that Sony had to offer on the Playstation 3.

Just because Electronic Arts doesn’t appear to share Sony’s enthusiasm with video game remasters, doesn’t mean that Mass Effect fans don’t have anything to look forward too. While the first Mass Effect trilogy might not be coming back, BioWare officially announced the title of the four installment of their sci-fi saga. A recent Inquisitr report revealed that Mass Effect: Andromeda was formally shown to the world via a new E3 trailer.

Would you like to see a remastered version of the Mass Effect trilogy or would you prefer to see BioWare spend their time focusing on new projects such as Mass Effect: Andromeda?

[Images via BioWare, Naughty Dog]