BioWare Montreal and Hudson will be taking point on the development of the new game. The game will be released on the PC, as well as the next-gen consoles, like the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox 720. The game may not be called Mass Effect 4, because according to Chris Priestly, Bioware’s Community Coordinator, the Commander Shepard trilogy is over, so calling the next game Mass Effect 4 would be a “disservice”.

Speaking of Commander Shepard, Bioware revealed some interesting statistics that showed that 82% of all Mass Effect 3 players preferred to play as male Commander Shepard. The statistics also showed that 48.7% of players chose to play as the soldier class in single-player. 64.5% of players chose to play Paragon while the other 36.5% chose to play Renegade.

Hudson also stated that the Mass Effect movie is still a work-in-progress, but there is no speculated release date. Aside from the Mass Effect news, Bioware is working on an all-new game. Hudson didn’t release any details about the project, but he says that he hopes the game matches the success of the Mass Effect series. He says, “We’re focusing on delivering something new, the way we did at the very beginning of Mass Effect.”

[via GameSpot]

Bioware posted on its Mass Effect 3: Citadel FAQ, “For Xbox 360 users, the Citadel DLC pack will come as 2 downloads on Xbox Live. ME3 Citadel is larger than our previous DLC packs, so it had to be split into 2 downloads. The first pack is priced at $14.99 and the second pack is tagged as free. Players need to purchase and download pack 1, then download pack 2 at no additional cost.” The FAQ continued to say that you can download pack 2 without downloading the first one, but users will only receive an error message that will redirect them to download pack #1.

Players will be able to access the Citadel DLC download after they stop the Cerberus coup attempt on the citadel. You do not have to complete the entire game before being able to access the DLC. You will, however, have to meet the characters in the original storyline before you can interact with them in the Citadel DLC. The game will have no effect on the ending, or the extended-endings of Mass Effect 3.

The DLC expands the longevity of Mass Effect 3 and should keep many avid fans happy. The game will also have a few tie-ins with Mass Effect 3′s upcoming comic series, Mass Effect: Foundation, which is a comic book series that will go back through the existing stories in the Mass Effect universe and elaborate on them more. The Citadel DLC will be available on March 5th on all platforms.

[via Bioware]

The expansion will have the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire facing off against the Hutt Cartel through a selection of story-driven missions on the planet Makeb. Of course, new weapons, abilities, and armor will be added with Rise of the Hutt Cartel, but don’t expect a huge level cap increase. The level cap is going up to 55 with this release, so you’ll have five extra levels to rise through once this expansion lands.

If you’re not a subscriber, Rise of the Hutt Cartel will cost $19.99, though paying for it will net you preferred player status. Those who are subscribed will only have to shell out $9.99, and the expansion is available for pre-order now on the game’s official site. Those who pre-order before January 7 will receive five days early access to Rise of the Hutt Cartel.

There’s more information on the expansion in BioWare‘s handy little Rise of the Hutt Cartel pre-order FAQ. As stated above, there’s no solid release date yet, but with a release window of spring 2013, it won’t be too much longer before Rise of the Hutt Cartel is here. Are you planning on picking it up, or have you left Star Wars: The Old Republic behind for greener pastures?

When asked for a “rough idea on a release window,” Gamble replied with, “Late 2014 to Mid 2015. I honestly can’t tell you an exact [date] because full development on the game started a month or two ago.” So, it would seem that Mass Effect fans will have to wait quite some time before Mass Effect 4 (or whatever it will be called) launches. Gamble didn’t comment on the story or gameplay at all, just reiterated things we already knew – Casey Hudson is involved, it’s being built on Frostbite 2, and that we’ll hear more about the game once we’re into 2013.

Gamble did, however, talk about some of the Mass Effect 3 ideas that were left on the cutting room floor. He said BioWare had originally planned for players to visit the home planet of the Turians, Palaven, in the game, and that at one point there was an alternative ending in place. In this ending, players would have fought a Reaper-transformed Illusive Man in an end-game boss battle. Since a lot of games end with a boss battle, Gamble said BioWare decided to ditch that idea, giving us the very controversial conversation with the God-child instead.

Now we go back to waiting for more details on this next Mass Effect game. Considering its far off launch window, perhaps BioWare is developing the game for next-generation consoles? It seems like we’ll have a next-gen console from either Microsoft or Sony on shelves by the time late 2014 rolls around, but that ultimately remains to be seen. Stay tuned.

Update: Unfortunately folks, it looks like this interview was fake – all of it. GamerSyndrome has since taken the interview down and Kotaku has spoken to the author, who admits that he made the whole thing up. Here’s what the author, who asked to remain anonymous in talking to Kotaku, had to say:

The entire article was fake, I didn’t talk to anyone for it. No one had ever hired me to write for a gaming website before, so I was trying so hard to impress them. I wanted them to see the interview and be impressed by what I wrote. When BioWare didn’t respond with the answers to my questions I decided to finish the post myself. I took quotes from past BioWare interviews and inserted them into my post, as well as quotes from The Art of Mass Effect and The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3. I didn’t expect the article to go anywhere so I thought nothing of it. However, I’m sorry for the article. There’s nothing right with what I did and I apologize to anyone who was misled by this article.

Even though the author didn’t think the interview was going to go anywhere, a number of major gaming outlets picked it up quickly, so it ended up deceiving a lot of people. Of course, considering that he took BioWare quotes and information from other sources, the information on the alternate endings and missions for Mass Effect 3 may not be fake, but the launch window for the Mass Effect title most certainly is. We apologize for the mix up everyone.

Earlier in the day, we learned that ASUS was handing out vouchers to consumers in Europe who bought the 16GB Nexus 7 right before its price drop, and then later on Google announced that it will be offering a “price protection program,” for 16GB Nexus 7 purchasers as well. The Nokia Lumia 920T leaked today, and it seems that China Telecom may be getting the iPhone 5 before long. Six companies may be facing fines for alleged CRT price fixing, and after learning a ton about Grand Theft Auto V yesterday, a leak today gave us all new information.

Google said today that it will begin focusing more on mobile than desktop, and Apple was named the most innovative company of the year by Booz and Co. There will be a new Windows 8 security update landing on November 13, and some users are already reporting issues with their Microsoft Surface touch covers. US video game sales were down 25% in October, and today Zynga revealed that it has acquired November Software, even though that purchase happened back in spring.

Angry Birds Star Wars rose to the top of the iOS charts in record time, and BioWare wants your suggestions for its next Mass Effect game. We learned today that climate change might mean a bleak future for the world’s coffee beans, and that the Motorola DROID RAZR M will soon be getting an upgrade to Jelly Bean from Verizon. Finally tonight, we compare the the Nokia Lumia 920 to the HTC Windows Phone 8X in a head-to-head battle, we take a closer look at the FanVision displays used during NASCAR races, and Chris Burns has a new interview with NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the weekend ahead!

“We’re in early stages of designing a completely new Mass Effect game,” series boss Casey Hudson said on Twitter. “What would you want to see in it?” There are, of course, all sorts of suggestions, but a number of people are telling Hudson that they don’t want the next Mass Effect game to be a prequel. Instead, they’d like to see how the universe is getting along after the war with the Reapers.

We like that idea a lot, and we also the idea of having playable races other than just human, which is a suggestion some others have made. It seems that some also want much more depth in the storytelling with many different branches and by extension many different outcomes for each story arc. That sounds like a winning idea as well, though it might sap a lot of BioWare’s time to attempt something like that.

Whatever BioWare ends up doing, we know that the next Mass Effect game won’t feature Commander Shepard. BioWare has been saying that Mass Effect 3 would be Shepard’s last game since before the title was even released, so we should expect an all new story focusing on a brand new character. BioWare has a whole universe left to explore in the Mass Effect games, so here’s hoping the studio takes advantage of that with the next installment. What would you like to see in the next Mass Effect game?

[via Eurogamer]

In fact, the only thing that free players will have full access to is story content, meaning that they’ll be able to level their character from 1-50 and experience class stories in their entirety. Aside from that, though, you’re going to have use Cartel Coins or subscribe in order to get the full Star Wars: The Old Republic experience. For instance, free players will only be able to participate in three Warzones, Flashpoints, and Space Missions each per week, and they’ll be locked out of Operations entirely. In order to do more than what’s allowed, players will need to purchase weekly passes.

Character creation will also be limited for free players, as will the number of inventory slots. Free players won’t have access to the cargo hold until they shell out the Cartel Coins needed to unlock it, and even then, the space in the cargo hold with be limited until players pay more Cartel Coins to expand it. Fast travel cooldown will be longer for free players, and they’ll only have one available Crew Skill slot, with the option to buy more slots with Cartel Coins.

While all of that is sure to make players at least mildly upset, BioWare has put in place one restriction that might make their anger boil over: free players won’t be able to equip most purple items. Sadly, if you want to equip some of the best items in the game, it looks like you’ll have to pony up for a subscription or purchase a license from the Cartel Shop. Whereas once we thought that going free-to-play would be a great idea for Star Wars: The Old Republic, after seeing all of these restrictions BioWare and Electronic Arts are placing on free players, we’re not so sure that’s the case anymore. What do you think?

What’s surprising about this announcement is that the Mass Effect Trilogy will be coming to Xbox 360, PC, and PS3, meaning that PS3 players will finally get to enjoy the first Mass Effect title. It was looking bleak for a long time there since Microsoft acted as publisher on the first game, leading many gamers to believe that Mass Effect would never come to PS3. Not only is Mass Effect launching on PS3 in the Mass Effect Trilogy, but it will also be available as a standalone download on PSN.

Unfortunately, PS3 players are going to have to wait a bit longer than Xbox 360 and PC players. While the Xbox 360 and PC versions of the Mass Effect Trilogy will be launching on November 6, PS3 owners won’t be getting it until “a later date.” The announcement from Electronic Arts doesn’t get any more specific than that, so PS3 players might have a while yet before the Mass Effect Trilogy launches on their console of choice.

The Trilogy will only cost $59.99 when its released, which is surprising considering that it features three full games and Mass Effect 3 isn’t that old. BioWare will be celebrating the release of the Mass Effect Trilogy with the first “N7 day,” which is slated for – surprise! – November 7. Details on N7 Day are still pretty slim, but we’re told that there will be a number of in-game and online events to celebrate the new gaming holiday. More information on both the Mass Effect Trilogy and N7 Day should be coming soon, so stay tuned.

Today was also a pretty big day for the Apple fans out there, as the company officially released the final version of iOS 6, and we were there with the full iOS 6 changelog. A new version of OS X Mountain Lion launched alongside iOS 6 (10.8.2 to be specific), and new benchmarks show that the iPhone 5 is a beast when it comes to browsing. IHS iSuppli says that the 16GB iPhone 5 costs Apple $207 to make, and a Samsung Facebook campaign has been invaded by the pro-Apple crowd. Samsung ultimately got the last laugh though, as it released a new commercial informing the consumers of the world that the best has already arrived.

T-Mobile USA has named John Legere as its new CEO, and he sat down for a hello to everyone on YouTube. AT&T brought its 4G LTE service to 8 new cities today, and ZTE gave us an idea of when it will launch its first phones running Firefox OS. The Samsung Galaxy Note II has been announced for all major US carriers, and US Cellular gave the new device a price tag of $300 and a late-October launch. Earlier in the day, we heard that Google was planning to launch a new update for Google Maps on Android, and sure enough, that update arrived just a few hours later with a couple cool new features in tow.

Tobii and NTT DOCOMO will soon be showing off a new tablet with Tobii’s eye-tracking technology, while the Raspberry Pi’s turbo mode gives it a 50% boost in power. After its two co-founders announced yesterday that they were leaving the games industry, BioWare outlined its plan for the future (spoiler: it includes more Mass Effect and Dragon Age), and Toshiba announced the latest in its line of Camileo camcorders, the rugged BW20. Finally tonight, we have a review of the all new Kindle Fire HD for you to check out – does Amazon’s latest impress or does it fall flat? Read the review to find out!

That’s all for the Evening Wrap-Up, folks. Now go out and enjoy the rest of your night!

One of these is a brand new IP for next generation consoles. Details on this new IP are understandably light, but Flynn says that Casey Hudson and the other leads at BioWare are currently hard at work coming up with a new fictional universe for us to romp around in. Regardless of your feelings on the current state of BioWare, that’s some exciting news, because the studio has always been great at creating engaging and exciting in-game universes.

In addition to this new IP, there’s more Mass Effect in store. Flynn says that BioWare will continue to release multiplayer and single player story DLC for Mass Effect 3 over the course of the next six months, and he mentions the incoming Omega DLC specifically, which will be releasing later this fall. BioWare is also moving forward for plans for an entirely new Mass Effect game, which is news that will come as a shock to absolutely no one. This new Mass Effect title is apparently still in the very early planning stages, as Flynn says that the dev team is currently trying to tackle the question of “where to go next?” and telling readers that the studio is open to fan suggestions.

Finally, Flynn touched on Dragon Age III: Inquisition, but didn’t give any new details. He just said that the Dragon Age development team has been working with fans of the first two games to find out what they’d like to see in Dragon Age III, and discussed the excitement and difficulty that comes along with making a game with a new engine. In the end, Flynn thanked the BioWare Doctors for all of their hard work over the years, and promised that the company will always honor their legacy. It’s been a bittersweet couple of days for BioWare fans – the company’s two co-founders have left the studio, but BioWare has some exciting projects in the works. What do you think?

In Zeschuk’s letter, he writes that his passion for gaming has left him. That has to be a depressing realization, especially when you created a company that is historically one of the most important companies in the industry. He does say, however, that his passion for the people he’s worked with throughout the years is still alive and well:

After nearly twenty years working at BioWare I’ve decided it’s time to move on and pursue something new. This decision isn’t without significant pain and regret, but it’s also something I know I need to do, for myself and my family. I’ve reached an unexpected point in my life where I no longer have the passion that I once did for the company, for the games, and for the challenge of creation. For the people I have had the privilege of working with, however, my passion burns as brightly as it did the day we started.

Looking forward, Zeschuk says that he won’t be working on games for a while, and that there’s a “strong possibility” that he won’t ever return to the games space. Instead, he’ll be spending time with his family and friends and will be focusing on his passion for craft beer. He’ll soon be hosting a new web show called The Beer Diaries, where he’ll be interviewing brewers and showing off their beers.

Muzyka, on the other hand, says in his letter that he craves a new “entrepreneurial challenge,” which will include mentoring up-and-coming entrepreneurs and focusing on the field of social/impact investing. He’ll also be getting more involved in education, animal rights, health care charities along with his wife. Muzyka says that he hasn’t lost his passion for video games, but that he just realized it was time for a new chapter in his life:

The decision to leave the videogame industry is hard to explain, but essentially I feel similar now to how I felt in the early days of BioWare over the decade post-medical school, while I was still practicing as an ER physician, back when I first realized that the world of video games was my next career ‘chapter’. Two wonderful decades working at BioWare and later EA was the result of that decision. It’s not often that you can truly say you were able to pursue and achieve your dream job; I know how lucky I am to be able to say that now, in my early 40s.

Zeschuk and Muzyka founded BioWare in 1995 after graduating from medical school, and under their watch the studio went onto create titles like Jade Empire, Neverwinter Nights, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Perhaps one of the most important game series made by BioWare is the Baldur’s Gate franchise, a groundbreaking computer RPG franchise that is regarded by many as the best RPG series ever created. More recently, BioWare has been responsible for the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series, along with the MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic. What do you think of Muzyka and Zeschuk announcing that they’re leaving the games industry?

The HTC One X was spotted in a leaked photo earlier today, and it would appear that many of the world’s online retailers are having some trouble keeping Wii U pre-orders in stock. Google Plus has grown to 400 million users total, with 100 million of those people using the social networking service actively. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer thinks that Windows 8 may prove to be as big as Windowws 95 (and talks very briefly about the “sweet spot” for Surface pricing), while we’re hoping that Microsoft’s Windows 8 event on October 25 will give us some more solid details on the price of Surface.

The Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet was the subject of a teardown earlier today, showing us just what exactly is under the hood. Speaking of the Kindle Fire, today Nokia confirmed that it has licensed its Location Platform to Amazon for use in the Fire line up, meaning that Amazon will be giving Google Maps the boot. JetBlue says it will soon be offering free Wi-Fi during its flights, and HP CEO Meg Whitman has looked to Apple for inspiration when it comes to redesigning the PCs and laptops it offers. Dragon Age III: Inquisition was officially announced today too, something we’re sure will get the anti-BioWare crowd all riled up.

The Angry Birds spin-off Bad Piggies was given its first gameplay video today (no it isn’t the same as Angry Birds), and today we got word that the Samsung Galaxy S IV may be launching as early as March 2013 – less than a year after the S III hit shelves. The Nokia Lumia 820 has been outfitted with a new bumper shell, and in one of the day’s more interesting stories, archaeologists may have uncovered a fort that was critical to Caesar’s conquest of Gaul. Canon revealed a number of new cameras today, but perhaps the most important reveal was of the Canon EOS 6D. Not to be outdone, Olympus had a couple of reveals as well, announcing the new Stylus XZ-2 iHS and the M.Zuiko Digital ED 60MM F2.8 “Nature Macro Lens.”

Finally tonight, we invite you to check out new review of the Sony Reader PRS-T2. That does it for Monday’s Evening Wrap-Up, so go out and enjoy the rest of your night!

The game was announced in a BioWare Blog post penned by longtime employee Mark Darrah. He spends most of the blog post talking about past projects he’s been a part of, ranging from the very first Baldur’s Gate (along with Tales of the Sword Coast, BGII, and Throne of Bhaal) all the way up to the Dragon Age series, which has him in the role of executive producer. He’ll be playing a major role in the development of Dragon Age III as weels, and assures readers that the DAIII team consists of BioWare veterans and talented newcomers alike. Specifically, Darrah states that many of the people who worked on Dragon Age: Origins have returned to work on Dragon Age III.

As stated above, Darrah doesn’t get too specific when it comes to Dragon Age III details, but he does let a few interesting tidbits loose. He isn’t willing to talk about story at this early point, but he does say that series fans should be able to figure some stuff out from the title alone. Dragon Age III has been in development for the past two years, with production ramping up about 18 months ago. Even better is that BioWare will be using a new engine with Dragon Age III, with DICE’s impressive Frostbite 2 engine serving as the foundation.

That’s it as far as actual information goes, and it seems that this blog post is geared more toward reassuring fans that Dragon Age III will be worth their time than anything else. To some fans, BioWare has been slipping lately – many fans complained loudly about Dragon Age II‘s move away from the gameplay in Origins, and even more complained about the ending in Mass Effect 3, which many felt was ultimately a big letdown when held up against the rest of the series. With this blog post, BioWare is suggesting that its getting back to its roots with Dragon Age III, and if the studio is serious about that, then it should have no problem getting back into the good graces of longtime fans. Keep it tuned here to SlashGear for more information about Dragon Age III – we’re expecting new details soon, and we’ll share them when we have them!

That’s the date for the US release – European gamers have to wait a day longer, as their version isn’t arriving until August 29. In the DLC, players will be tasked with finding the titular Leviathan and using it in their war against the Reapers. The Reapers know you’re looking for Leviathan though, so not only do you have to find this thing, but you’ll have the Reapers on your tail while you do.

If this is the same Leviathan we hear about in Mass Effect 3‘s story, then not only is Leviathan a Reaper, but he’s one of the oldest ones around. When it initially detailed this DLC, BioWare said that players will be learn more about the origins of the Reapers as they search for Leviathan, so if the you found that the Star Child’s explanation of Reaper beginnings left something to be desired, this DLC should serve to fill in a few of the holes.

Indeed, we’ve heard whispers that this DLC changes Mass Effect 3‘s ending yet again, so it sounds like there’s quite a bit of story-driven content to be enjoyed in Leviathan. It’ll also be nice to have some single player DLC that isn’t a response to fan outrage. The DLC will be $9.99 or 1200 Microsoft Points when it arrives here in a couple of weeks, so be sure to keep an eye out for it on PSN, XBLA, and Origin.

Leviathan is a story-driven piece of DLC that takes place during the events of Mass Effect 3 proper. In it, players will be tasked with finding Leviathan (which appears to be a Reaper) and using it in the battle for the galaxy. As you attempt to find Leviathan, you’ll learn more about the “dark history” of the Reapers, and we’ll even be getting a glimpse at their origins. In addition to the new story content, Leviathan also unlocks new areas of the Citadel to explore, adds a couple new weapons, and will introduce us to some new characters. BioWare says it will be available later this summer for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 and will cost $10 or 800 MSP.

Firefight is the less substantial of the two, as this one is merely a weapons pack. Adding seven weapons in all, the pack comes with two weapons that are designated as “powerful” with the other five being called “bonus weapons.” This one will be available quite a bit sooner than Leviathan, arriving on PS3, PC, and Xbox 360 on August 7 with a price tag of $2 or 160 MSP.

BioWare also took the opportunity to announce that Mass Effect 3 will be a Wii U launch title. Of course, we still don’t know when the Wii U is launching, but day-one purchasers can rest assured that Mass Effect 3 will be there right alongside it whenever it arrives. Other than that, there wasn’t too much news about the Wii U version, except that it will sport new controls (obviously) and it will come with bonus DLC, including the Extended Cut. Now if Nintendo would just give us that Wii U release date, we’d be set!

That’s a pretty huge gain, and it isn’t hard to see why Wedbush thinks EA’s stock will skyrocket. Yesterday’s financial report was more or less in line with the company’s expectations, so it really wasn’t anything to get excited about. However, The Old Republic‘s upcoming transition to free-to-play is something to get excited about, considering that making the switch has worked wonders for other MMOs in the past, such as Lord of the Rings Online.

Speaking about The Old Republic‘s transition specifically, Michael Pachter predicts that the change to free-to-play will bring BioWare‘s game “10 million MAUs indefinitely, with upside to perhaps 50 million.” 10 million monthly users certainly isn’t anything to scoff at, but 50 million players? Apparently Pachter thinks that the Star Wars name will be able to pull players in by the boatload. That could very well happen, but The Old Republic definitely has a long way to before it can boast 50 million players.

Still, stranger things have happened before. Ultimately, Pachter and Wedbush say that the switch to free-to-play will be good for Electronic Arts and BioWare, stating that the large margins BioWare will be making on Cartel Coin sales to the game’s increased user base will bring in more money than charging $60 for the game and then hitting players up for a subscription fee every month. We’ll see if the switch was a good decision soon enough, as Star Wars: The Old Republic is set to go free-to-play this fall.

After the transition eventually happens, SWTOR will come in two different flavors: a subscription-based model and a freemium model. Those who choose to pay the monthly subscription fee will have access to all of The Old Republic‘s of features, and will be getting a monthly Cartel Coin bonus. Cartel Coins are BioWare’s funny money for The Old Republic, as they allow users to buy “customizable gear and convenience features” from the new Cartel Store. Free-to-play users will be able to play all of The Old Republic‘s 8 classes to level 50, but there will be a few restrictions that can be removed through microtransactions.

Current and former subscribers will get 150 Cartel Coins for each month they paid the subscription fee, so if you were planning to return to The Old Republic once it went free-to-play, you might want to consider jumping back in before the transition happens. BioWare also says that starting in August, the game will be sporting a new $14.99 price tag, allowing users to get in on the cheap before the switch. BioWare has launched an FAQ that answers many more questions about the transition to free-to-play, so if you’re currently subscribed, we recommend that you give it a look.

Making the switch the free-to-play has worked wonders for many MMOs in the past, and we expect that The Old Republic‘s popularity will skyrocket once the change is implemented. BioWare and Electronic Arts stand to make a lot of money if the transition is successful, which begs the question of why this didn’t happen back in February, when user numbers started making a sharp decline. It was probably pride that made them resist, but once the transition actually occurs, we have a feeling that both companies will wish they had bitten the bullet sooner.

It’s likely that these layoffs are a part of Electronic Arts‘ restructuring plan, which was announced back in May. At the time, no one wanted to talk about how many people would be laid off as part of the plan, with BioWare and EA simply telling us that the layoffs would be necessary for the game to continue to grow. Vogel had apparently already left the company by the time today’s layoffs took place.

Vogel served as one of The Old Republic‘s main men throughout the game’s development and after its release in December, and had worked at BioWare Austin for seven years. The circumstances surrounding Vogel’s departure were not revealed to Gamasutra.

Star Wars: The Old Republic launched in December 2011 with an incredible amount of hype behind it. Gamers quickly flocked to the game, but that success was short-lived, with a number of those same players leaving the game behind not long after launch. BioWare and EA have rolled out a number of initiatives to entice old and potential players alike, including the decision to make the game free-to-play for the first 15 levels. Last month, BioWare said that it was considering taking the entire game free-to-play, but such a switch has yet to actually occur. With the announcement of these latest layoffs, however, the change to free-to-play may not be that far off.

One of the biggest changes BioWare Mythic is delivering in this update is the inclusion of a multiplayer mode. Since Ultima IV was a purely single player RPG, the news of a multiplayer mode may turn some longtime fans of the series off, but BioWare reassures that you can play alone if you like. The graphics – which have aged just a little, considering that Ultima IV was released way back in 1985 – will also be getting a revamp, with the team adding new 3D models and hand-painted backgrounds. The top-down perspective from the classic Ultima games stays, however, which will undoubtedly make a lot of fans happy.

Truth be told, BioWare Mythic may just be the perfect developer for an Ultima IV remake. The Ultima series has never really fallen in line with other RPGs, preferring instead to carve out its own unique character progression system that focuses on leveling up different virtues. BioWare is a developer known for thinking outside the box when it comes to RPGs from time to time, and with word that the studio’s conversation system will be implemented in Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar, this is a match that has us pretty intrigued.

BioWare and EA say that Ultima Forever will attempt to strike that ever-elusive balance between time and money. Players will be able to go through the game at their own pace, or they’ll have the option of paying money to skip ahead and reach the end faster. That makes it sounds like you won’t have to pay any money to get the full Ultima IV experience, so let’s hope that turns out to be true when the game is released later this year.

[via GameTrailers]

Just like that leaked listing from last month told us, this Earth DLC pack will have players fighting off the Reapers, Geth, and Cerberus in London, Rio, and Vancouver. The pack also tosses three new weapons into the mix – the Piranha assault shotgun, Acolyte pistol, and Typhoon assault rifle – and adds six new human classes to the roster of playable characters: the Destroyer Soldier, Paladin Sentinel, Demolisher Engineer, Slayer Vanguard, Shadow Infiltrator, and Fury Adept.

The pack is getting a worldwide Xbox 360 and PC release on July 17, with the North American PS3 version arriving on that day as well. If you’re playing on PS3 and live in Europe, you’re going to have to wait until July 18 to download it. Like all Mass Effect 3 multiplayer DLCs before this, the Earth pack will cost the very reasonable amount of absolutely nothing.

For more information on Mass Effect 3′s various DLC packs (and the controversy that surrounds some of them), check out the story timeline below!

[via BioWare]

The BioWare team would of course have you believe that the game is just getting started – as it certainly is – and that their newest additions to the game should have the players thinking about exiting in a turnaround. BioWare “still has a substantial development team working on supporting and growing the game.” This note comes aside a request from BioWare that “with your continued involvement and feedback, to continue to build Star Wars: The Old Republic as one of the most compelling and successful online experiences in the world today.”

What we’ve seen thus far of Star Wars: The Old Republic’s universe is that it does indeed hold many fine features that must be assumed here in this very adept MMORPG world, but that BioWare simply does not hold the sway in this realm that titans like Blizzard Entertainment do with games such as Diablo III and World of Warcraft. BioWare lets everyone know today that their upcoming update to the game: “v1.3 Allies” will be bringing the fury with legacy perks, group finder tools, adaptive gear, and an update to the Alderaan war zone.

“There are many strong initiatives planned for cool new content and new features that we’re excited to tell you about in the upcoming weeks and months.” – BioWare

[via SWTOR Forum]

Apparently that solution has been found. In a post on the PlayStation Blog with the tagline “Priority transmission to Alliance sodiers of the PlayStation Network: Reinforcements are coming,” BioWare community manager Eduardo Vasconcellos boasted to the PS3 user base that the multiplayer challenges will now be part of the PSN experience. The first mission will be Operation Exorcist, which was announced earlier this week at a time when it was expected only Xbox Live and PC servers would offer it.

BioWare sets up the task with the story, “When it comes to retrieving classified data, Cerberus has been beating the allied forces to the punch. New intelligence has tipped us off to one of their offensives, and it is time to give the N7 teams the payback they want.” The squad goal requires players to survive until extraction on any map, but on the daunting Gold level of difficulty. Successful completion of this awards the entire squad a Commendation pack. It’s great to see the PS3 included this time around.

[via PlayStation Blog]

To help keep things interesting in the online multiplayer world, developer Bioware has been running numerous promotions, such as the ability to gain extra XP or receiving bonuses for completing various tasks. However, perhaps unknown to those playing the game on the Xbox 360 or PC, none of this stuff has been making its way to the PS3 version of the game. For example, the most recent event involves giving players a 10% XP bonus to anyone who plays on the latest downloadable maps, but only on Xbox 360 and PC.

Bioware recently wrote a blog post explaining that the only reason these events weren’t happening on the PS3 was because of Sony. Now, Sony has come forth to say, “For example, the most recent event involves giving players a 10% XP bonus to anyone who plays on the latest downloadable maps, but only on Xbox 360 and PC.” We’ll see if that actually materializes into anything. It is good to see, though, that Sony is responding to the outrage that this issue has caused among Mass Effect fans.

[ShackNews]

Even better, they’ll be making it available for absolutely free, nothing, nada, on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. While BioWare say they’re “incredibly proud” of Mass Effect 3, the new Extended Cut has “struck a good balance in delivering the answers players are looking for while maintaining the team’s artistic vision for the end of this story arc in the Mass Effect universe.”

The developers of the game said previously that they were toying with the idea of adding more content that would address the ending of the game after fan outrage. Mass Effect 3 fans also considered a class-action complaint against EA over the “open” nature of the ending, when wording on the Mass Effect website claimed that there would be a clear beginning, middle, and end to the overall story.

The DLC will be available sometime this summer, and while it be free, that offer will expire on April 12th 2014.

[via Marketwatch]

“Building on their research, Exec Producer Casey Hudson and the team are hard at work on a number of game content initiatives that will help answer the questions, providing more clarity for those seeking further closure to their journey. You’ll hear more on this in April.  We’re working hard to maintain the right balance between the artistic integrity of the original story while addressing the fan feedback we’ve received.  This is in addition to our existing plan to continue providing new Mass Effect content and new full games, so rest assured that your journey in the Mass Effect universe can, and will, continue” Dr Ray Muzkya, co-founder, BioWare

Some players had been vocal in their complaints about how Mass Effect 3 concluded, arguing that BioWare had promised far more in the way of depth and interest from what appeared to be a markedly customized conclusion depending on gameplay through the title. In fact, they say, the actual ending was trite and shallow, and did not live up to the claims of the developers.

Exactly what changes Hudson and the Mass Effect 3 team are planning is unclear at this stage, though they have something of a challenge ahead to keep everybody satisfied. Part of the issue is that gamers themselves may well not know what they want in terms of closure.

“Some of the criticism that has been delivered in the heat of passion by our most ardent fans, even if founded on valid principles, such as seeking more clarity to questions or looking for more closure, for example – has unfortunately become destructive rather than constructive. We listen and will respond to constructive criticism, but much as we will not tolerate individual attacks on our team members, we will not support or respond to destructive commentary” Dr Ray Muzkya

Muzkya does not address the companion complaints about downloadable content (DLC) which, some critics argued, was prioritized as a money-spinning venture to the detriment of the core game. The co-founder’s comments about “destructive rather than constructive” criticism seems to address that more heated feedback.

The Mass Effect franchise follows a continuous storyline, and as a result the game developers have encouraged players to complete each title before moving on to the next one. Players who had a Mass Effect save file could transfer vital data to their Mass Effect 2 game, and now that Mass Effect 3 is out the same thing applies for ME2 to ME3. Unfortunately, though, Mass Effect 3 is completely unable to identify Mass Effect 2 save files if they were stored in the cloud.

“While Mass Effect 3 supports cloud saving for new or successfully imported Mass Effect 2 saves, it does not support the importation of endgame saves directly from the cloud. Additionally, this can cause it to not recognize save files that have been transferred via cloud to a console other than the one where they originated,” publisher EA confirmed in a statement. If you’re able to go back to the console in which you originally saved the game and create a local copy of the save file, you’re good to go. But if you no longer have access to that system, you are screwed. EA has given no indication that this problem is fixable.

[via Escapist]

The first balloon was sent into the sky from San Francisco, and it wasn’t long before fans saw that it has landed near Santa Cruz, California. Developer Bioware said that 10 ardent Mass Effect fans happened to be in the area to claim their treasure. The only problem is that it was 150 feet off the ground, stuck in a tree. The fans used everything from a baseball attached to a rope, to marbles and slingshots to try to get the games down.

EA is moving to other major cities in the US to launch more weather balloons packed with the alluring prize. Other locations on EA’s radar are Las Vegas, London, and Berlin over the next five days. If you live in or are planning to visit any of these destinations, and you have nothing better to do, then head over to the official Mass Effect 3 Space Edition website and start tracking. Heck, even if you have no interest in the game at all it’s still pretty interesting to watch.

[via Wired]

That may come as a bit of a shock to those who are familiar with the rest of the franchise, which has become known for its over-the-shoulder perspective and shooting gameplay controls. But for those who get used to the new gameplay, this is pretty cool – if you collect items and other content in Infiltrator, you’ll be able to access it if you have the console version of Mass Effect 3.

The other thing that anyone familiar with the shooting-game series will know is that it’s known for having stellar graphics. It appears Infiltrator will try to replicate that, taking full advantage of the iPad’s capabilities and shrinking down the scope of individual environments to cut back on rendering requirements. The controls revolve around a touch-screen adaptation of analog stick controls on the iPad display. Shooting enemies requires simply tapping on them.

[via Mashable]