Bioware considers Mass Effect MMO

BioWare is getting its feet wet in the MMO space with their upcoming game Star Wars: The Old Republic, which will be released in late December. The developer may take its experience with the ambitious project and use it to create a new MMO based on the Mass Effect IP.

In an interview with Industry Gamers, Bioware co-founders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk left the door open for a Mass Effect MMO. ”You never know. I think once The Old Republic is done, we’ll take a fresh look at the market. And we’ll have learned a lot. While making it, you learn an enormous amount. It’s one of the nice things about having these properties in our back pocket…” Zeschuk stated, ”If we want to use something we own as a source for a game, it’s easy to do. So yeah, you never know. We’ve got this giant product to launch, but once that’s done we’ll consider next steps.”

”We’re focused very much on The Old Republic, Mass Effect 3 and (our free-to-play game) Wrath of Heroes, and all the other things we’ve announced, and haven’t announced, but we also have the opportunity to look at our franchises in a way we haven’t ever before,” Muzyka added, ”There are lots of new platforms and lots of new business models.”

If there is a Mass Effect MMO, however, that might cannibalize subscribership from Star Wars: The Old Republic. The idea of spending time in the Mass Effect universe has its appeals, though.