Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut Announced
In a press release today EA and Bioware confirm that they are indeed going to release a DLC pack that will attempt to give gamers the closure they desire. Bioware states that the DLC will include additional cinematic sequences and epilogue scenes, though how these will be accessed has still not been discussed.
Also in a move that absolutely had to happen to avoid a complete riot, the DLC itself will be free of charge. Of course stipulations are in effect to let you know that the offer expires on April 12 2014 and is only available through Origin, Xbox Live Arcade, and the Playstation Store. No solid release date was given other then a nebulous summer period.
Further clarifying Bioware has made sure that people know they aren’t changing the ending, instead just offering insight and more clarity into the ending you’ve gotten already. Ray Muyzka had this to say
[quote]”We are all incredibly proud of Mass Effect 3 and the work done by Casey Hudson and team. Since launch, we have had time to listen to the feedback from our most passionate fans and we are responding. With the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut we think we have 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.”[/quote]
They also stated in the press release that they reprioritized this because of fan outrage which would also make one think that they have even more DLC planned for Mass Effect 3, though nothing has been announced yet.
Tzeneth
April 5, 2012 @ 3:04 pm
They’ve also released an FAQ about the DLC. According the the FAQ, they are not changing the ending, only “clarifying.” That does not seem to fix a lot of the problems with the ending which are there because of the ending they chose. Like all the promises and quotes people have thrown around throughout this whole debacle.
Maybe they’ll pull off some miracle but I think that unless they can pull off that miracle, they will lose a lot of business.
Daniel Flatt
April 5, 2012 @ 3:32 pm
You would be surprised how many people just want clarity as to what actually happened. I’m sure Bioware’s writers have come up with a way to retcon or write themselves out of the hole and even if not I really don’t think they’ll lose a significant amount of customers.
Really writing off Bioware because of the ending of the game seems a little extreme. The rest of the game was fantastic, imho, and none of their games have ever been bad, even with their day one dlc shenanigans.
Tzeneth
April 5, 2012 @ 3:36 pm
Eh, I’m a very biased person. I see the ending as the most important part of any story. The ending IS the last moment you have with your audience. Then again, I always felt this article explained a good number of people’s feelings towards the ending. http://www.themetagames.com/2012/03/why-you-enjoy-art-and-one-problem-with.html
hariseldon
April 5, 2012 @ 3:38 pm
Although they are just clarifying the ending I still think that is a big concession. From that statement it looks like Bioware actually intended what we got to be the final ending, so those conspiracies about paid DLC for endings looks to be unfounded. The fact that they are diverting resources to fix (or at least properly explain) their mistake is something that gets a bit of respect from me. The fact it’s free shouldn’t be taken too lightly either, this is EA we’re talking about after all.
I still think the ending blows and no amount of explanation will make it better, but at least I will reserve judgment until I see it. As the above poster mentions, unless they pull off some miracle I will be very cautious with my Bioware purchases in the future as they still deceived us from the beginning with the whole ”16 different endings” thing
Mike Bonura
April 5, 2012 @ 3:53 pm
I totally agree with you. And yeah I don’t think I’ll buy DA3 on release day because of this whole ending debacle.Bioware used to be my favorite developer, hopefully this ending DLC will restore my faith in them……
Fagin
April 5, 2012 @ 3:58 pm
I’m wondering if I even care what the “clarified” ending has to show us. Frankly, I think I’ll just concentrate on what the indy game developers are putting out and say to hell with Bioware/EA.
Robert Strick
April 5, 2012 @ 4:16 pm
I think I’ll reserve judgement. Hopefully they can fix some of the gaping plot holes.
Hobocop
April 5, 2012 @ 4:32 pm
While it’s nice to see Bioware listening to the fans they seem to missing the key problem-the ending didnt suck becouse it wasnt clear enough. it sucked becouse it was a complete mess.