When it was announced last year that the original Mass Effect trilogy would get a proper remaster, it was mostly good news. However, EA and BioWare sadly explained that the new release would omit Mass Effect 3’s co-op multiplayer mode. Now, Legendary Edition’s project director, Mac Walters, says there’s a possibility the online mode could return…maybe.
Back in February, Walters told The Verge that the reason BioWare had cut multiplayer from Legendary Edition was to focus on improving single-player. Cutting multiplayer and rebalancing Mass Effect 3’s single-player campaign made it so folks wouldn’t need to play online to finish the campaign. It was a disappointing but understandable decision.
Walters also said that porting multiplayer would have involved solving some key challenges, like how to handle cross-play and how to bring in players who are still actively enjoying Mass Effect 3’s co-op mode to this day and reward them for their commitment.
Now, there’s hope that maybe, just maybe, BioWare will bring the fan-favourite mode back. In an interview with CNET, when asked about ME3’s online mode returning, Walters said he “would never say no to that” but added that it would depend on what the reception to Legendary Edition was, and if it felt like there was a demand from fans for multiplayer to return. “…Then we’ll ask ourselves if we have the resources and time to bring it up to the quality level we and fans want,” he said.
In other words, if it sells really, really well, maybe BioWare will bring back multiplayer.
Walters’ response was fairly non-committal and wishy-washy. But as someone who loved the multiplayer co-op action in Mass Effect 3 and was super sad to see it left on the cutting-room floor, I’ll take what I can get. Even a microscopic bit of hope is better than nothing.
Let’s also hope that if multiplayer returns it ditches the loot boxes.
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