66 réponses à ce sujet

[baher92]

When do you think this game will be announced? Mass Effect 3 was released in February 2012, which is over 2 years ago! Surely something would have been announced by now... thoughts?

[SwobyJ]

Step 1: E3, almost 100% sure. (Summer 2014)

Step 2: Trickle out some more teasing info during Inquisition's launch period (Fall-Winter 2014)

Step 3: Give more substantial information in next year (Spring-Summer? 2015)

Step 4: Either the game releases by late 2015, or at some point more likely earlier 2016. No later than 2016.

 

All IMO. All open to surprises

 

Basically, we got:

-a few months til announcement, trailer, teasing

-several months til more substantial info, still teasing

-a year until the bigger hype hits

 

All only at the predictable rate, so again, Bioware could decide to be unpredictable, of course.

[EatChildren]

It's taking longer than usual most likely due to the shift in engines (Unreal Engine 3 -> Frostbite 3), shift in platforms (360/PS3 tier hardware to Xbone/PS4 tier), the required workload to build a new direction for the series (design and story) off the back of the semi-planned trilogy, the shift in team, and BioWare's other commitments (like Inquisition, which still isn't out, and new IPs). The trilogy had the benefit of existing entirely during one console cycle, a rough schedule to get all three games out the door in quick succession keeping the team mostly intact and busy, and being able to work with the same engine on each game (with advancement). The work requirement on all fronts is larger for Mass Effect 4.

 

Impossible to know when the game will be announced, logical reasoning considered. Stuff gets planned, moved, cancelled, and so on. That being said, I believe it was Yanick Roy who implied late last year that he'd like to see Mass Effect 4 revealed this year, but couldn't promise it. Personally I think it will be shown this year in some form. What that form is will depend on how far away the game actually is. I'm fairly confident Mass Effect 4 will be at E3 2014, and if it's not we'll get something of substance either at PAX or N7 Day later in the year. And by substance I mean something video based, no off-screen concept art teases.

 

What that video will contain is the mystery. If the game is coming along really well and isn't a million years off, they could totally do a proper announcement: video footage, early details on the game, and the first batch of screenshots showing the engine/assets in real time. Similar to Mirror's Edge 2 last year. If it's really far away we might simply get a teaser. EA seems pretty big on marketing Frostbite 3 as a brand, so I don't think we'll see ME2/ME3 style CGI trailers/teasers. But even if it's in-engine it could still be a very shot tease.

 

I'm kinda thinking:

E3 2014/Pax/N7 Day = First reveal. Either a short, fluffy teaser, or Mirror's Edge 2-like trailer showing off the engine and game content in real time, enough to get people talking about the series future with a little bit of substance, but still a lot left unknown, like the nuances in how it plays, details of the narrative, and so on.

Q1 2015 Game Informer = Exclusive cover/content reveal. EA/BW have been in bed with GI for a long time, as are a lot of pubs. First batch of gameplay screenshots and real game details.

Q1/Q2 2015 post-Game Informer = More press coverage, more details, teaser trailers/dev diaries. Good idea of the game at this point: game systems, story, protagonist, etc.

E3 2015 = Content explosion. Learn tons of stuff, lots of footage, hands-on.

Q3/Q4 2015 = Marketing ramps up, planned for a Q4 "holiday" release.

Q1 2016 = Instead, Mass Effect 4 is delayed into here, in order to keep true with the franchise history .

[SwobyJ]

Totally with you EatChildren. Earliest, Early 2015 (quite unlikely). Latest, Early 2016 (unlikely but possible). Any later than that and I'd be surprised.

 

Hoping for Mid-Late 2015.

[Drone223]

I think we could get a teaser at E3 at best.

[JeffZero]

EatChildren essentially flawlessly stated word-for-word my precise prediction on this game, wow.

[B.Shep]

 

Q1 2016 = Instead, Mass Effect 4 is delayed into here, in order to keep true with the franchise history .

Somehow i got the feeling it's going to happen like that...

[baher92]

Now I regret starting this thread   2015/16 is a LONG way away! I do think a delay is likely though, I just hope it's not too long. Mass Effect 3's delay from Fall 2011 to early 2012 was fine IMO, any longer and it's just torture!

[KevinT18]

I'd rather play a game that took 4 years to develop than 2 or 3 years....in general. Early 2016 release is my guess. And if it's not announced at E3 this year then it will be before 2014 is over anyway. Some substantial info would be nice too i.e. not just a space scenes and planets and aliens montage with some splojens. Revealing the setting and plot I mean.

[laudable11]

I think a Mass Effect tease is being held back so DA:I can get some more attention.

I hope we'll get something at E3.

[Malanek]

I think DAI only needs the focus of attention for about 2-3 months before it is released and a month after. I'm not even convinced releasing some ME info during that period really does much to diminish DA hype. I just can't see that as being the reason we haven't seen or heard anything yet, it almost certainly about the stage of development they are at.

[baher92]

I'd rather play a game that took 4 years to develop than 2 or 3 years.

True, true. I'm just impatient when it comes to Mass Effect 

[CirusTheVirus666]

My guess is that there will be a teaser at E3 2014 but if you think about it, it has been 2 years since ME3 came out, and ONLY one year since Mass Effect 4 was announced in development(a quick google search and you can find the announcement).  My god...it hasnt been a very long time at all. If you look at the release dates, from Mass Effect 2 to 3, it took 2 years to release ME3 after ME2 and I think we all agree it should of taken a little longer*coughtheendingcough* So I would think, since its a new engine/new gen systems, it will probably be released in first Q in 2016 and in line with EatChildren prediction lol

[EatChildren]

I'm sure there's an incentive to focus more on Inquisition, as it's the next big thing from BioWare, but that won't stop them from announcing/teasing/promoting another game alongside it. EA is quite happy to promote Titanfall alongside Battlefield 4 expansion packs, and Dragon Age's demographic wouldn't be a complete crossover with Mass Effect's. Still plenty of marketing wiggle room without detracting attention from the other.

 

I wrote this awhile ago, but here's BW's announcement/release history for Mass Effect, with month count from last announcement/release in superscript.

 

Oct 2005 ^{+0 months}: Mass Effect announced - Nov 2007 ^{+25 months}: Mass Effect released

Mar 2009 ^{+16 months}: Mass Effect 2 announced - Jan 2010 ^{+10 months}: Mass Effect 2 released

Dec 2010 ^{+11 months}: Mass Effect 3 announced - Mar 2012 ^{+15 months}: Mass Effect 3 released.

March 2014 ^{+24 months}: Current date, Mass Effect 4 unannounced

 

So the longest gap was between Mass Effect's announcement and release, but much of that can be attributed to it being the first game, and it being announced looong before it was anywhere near due for release. From memory, the game also ran into some problems, earliest builds running on BioWare's own engine before moving over to UE3.

But yes, it's been two years now since Mass Effect 3's release, which is the longest period of silence between two Mass Effect games so far. Assuming it gets formally announced at E3, that'll make it 27 months. Shortest announcement->release turnaround was Mass Effect 2, which was teased with the memorable and ever-so-brief Geth wearing N7 armour and the screen data stating Shepard was KIA, and was then (if I'm remembering correctly) was proper revealed at E3 (though offscreen GDC engine/early gameplay tech vids did leak). 10 months later it was in our hands, and less than a year later Mass Effect 3 was announced.

 

Given the announcement->release timespan average, plans to announce at E3 2014 followed by a release Q3/Q4 2015, and thus 15 - 18 months post announcement, makes sense. Either that or end-of-2014 PAX/N7 announcement and a release ~12 months later.

 

Or the game is friggen forever away, gets announced E3 2015, and doesn't come out until Q3/Q4 2016.

 

_{And then delayed into Q1 2017, to keep franchise tradition.}

[KevinT18]

Not to burst everyones arithmetic bubble - and I know I always do this with movie and music releases too - but this is a creative medium with countless contributors and variables. Installments do not come according to some algorithm

[EatChildren]

Not to burst everyones arithmetic bubble - and I know I always do this with movie and music releases too - but this is a creative medium with countless contributors and variables. Installments do not come according to some algorithm

 

Nobody should expect them to. Hell, going by what exists, they don't.

[CannotCompute]

I'm not too optimistic about an E3 reveal, but expect to hear something in November / December. E3 just seems way too early, judging by the dev tweets. I think the spotlight will be solely on Inquisition for the largest part of the year.

[69_Gio_69]

How is it too early? To my knowledge they announced a new Mass Effect couple of months after the ME3 release. It has been in development for over a year now. In december the general manager of Bioware Edmonton, Aaryn Flynn, even confirmed he had already played a demo of the new game. 2016 would be highly unlikely as this will mean a development time of almost 3 years. 

[SNascimento]

Without a doubt at E3. 

 

[baher92]

 

I'm sure there's an incentive to focus more on Inquisition, as it's the next big thing from BioWare, but that won't stop them from announcing/teasing/promoting another game alongside it. EA is quite happy to promote Titanfall alongside Battlefield 4 expansion packs, and Dragon Age's demographic wouldn't be a complete crossover with Mass Effect's. Still plenty of marketing wiggle room without detracting attention from the other.

 

I wrote this awhile ago, but here's BW's announcement/release history for Mass Effect, with month count from last announcement/release in superscript.

 

Oct 2005 ^{+0 months}: Mass Effect announced - Nov 2007 ^{+25 months}: Mass Effect released

Mar 2009 ^{+16 months}: Mass Effect 2 announced - Jan 2010 ^{+10 months}: Mass Effect 2 released

Dec 2010 ^{+11 months}: Mass Effect 3 announced - Mar 2012 ^{+15 months}: Mass Effect 3 released.

March 2014 ^{+24 months}: Current date, Mass Effect 4 unannounced

 

So the longest gap was between Mass Effect's announcement and release, but much of that can be attributed to it being the first game, and it being announced looong before it was anywhere near due for release. From memory, the game also ran into some problems, earliest builds running on BioWare's own engine before moving over to UE3.

But yes, it's been two years now since Mass Effect 3's release, which is the longest period of silence between two Mass Effect games so far. Assuming it gets formally announced at E3, that'll make it 27 months. Shortest announcement->release turnaround was Mass Effect 2, which was teased with the memorable and ever-so-brief Geth wearing N7 armour and the screen data stating Shepard was KIA, and was then (if I'm remembering correctly) was proper revealed at E3 (though offscreen GDC engine/early gameplay tech vids did leak). 10 months later it was in our hands, and less than a year later Mass Effect 3 was announced.

 

Given the announcement->release timespan average, plans to announce at E3 2014 followed by a release Q3/Q4 2015, and thus 15 - 18 months post announcement, makes sense. Either that or end-of-2014 PAX/N7 announcement and a release ~12 months later.

 

Or the game is friggen forever away, gets announced E3 2015, and doesn't come out until Q3/Q4 2016.

 

_{And then delayed into Q1 2017, to keep franchise tradition.}

 

How very scientific and thorough! Kudos to you, sir. 

[KevinT18]

How is it too early? To my knowledge they announced a new Mass Effect couple of months after the ME3 release. It has been in development for over a year now. In december the general manager of Bioware Edmonton, Aaryn Flynn, even confirmed he had already played a demo of the new game. 2016 would be highly unlikely as this will mean a development time of almost 3 years. 

 Less than 3 years is not surprising whatsoever. New hardware, bigger team, bigger expenses, new creative leads, new engine, etc. Heck even a full 4.0 years would be no surprise to me

[CannotCompute]

How is it too early? To my knowledge they announced a new Mass Effect couple of months after the ME3 release. It has been in development for over a year now. In december the general manager of Bioware Edmonton, Aaryn Flynn, even confirmed he had already played a demo of the new game. 2016 would be highly unlikely as this will mean a development time of almost 3 years. 

 

DA:I has been in development since March 2011, which means a development time of about 3.5 years when the game hits the shelves this Fall. I believe that Aaryn Flynn did tweet that the dev time for ME: Next won't take as long, because the DA:I team already made all the engine-related stuff possible and that obviously saves quite some time. So there definitely could be some form of ME announcement at E3 this year, but at the moment I'm just bracing myself for possible disappointment, because last year there were also a lot of strong rumors that ME would be announced at certain events and we got absolutely nothing.

[SwobyJ]

We're getting something this year. That's nearly a guarantee. What that thing is, I dunno. Teaser trailer? Article? Whatever; it's SOMETHING at the very minimum.

[wvsnl]

I just hope they take their time and dont rush it. Heck I even hope for a 2016 release to ensure it is polished. ME 3 could have benefitted so much from a extra year of development. So hopefully the next ME gets the better treatment.

[laudable11]

A 2016 release would work for me as long as DA:I releases a steady stream of DLC.