Co-founder and general manager of BioWare, Dr. Ray Muzyka has acknowledged that it’s “incredibly painful” to hear of fans outcry over Mass Effect 3’s ending. He also acknowledges that out of respect for the studio’s fans, BioWare “need to accept the criticism and feedback with humility.”
Dr. Muzyka has posted on the BioWare blog:
“I believe passionately that games are an art form, and that the power of our medium flows from our audience, who are deeply involved in how the story unfolds, and who have the uncontested right to provide constructive criticism. At the same time, I also believe in and support the artistic choices made by the development team. The team and I have been thinking hard about how to best address the comments on ME3’s endings from players, while still maintaining the artistic integrity of the game.
Dr. Muzyka explains that because of Mass Effect 3 giving the player so much control over the story, it was difficult for the studio to predict the “range of emotions” players would feel when they finished playing through it.
“The journey you undertake in Mass Effect provokes an intense range of highly personal emotions in the player; even so, the passionate reaction of some of our most loyal players to the current endings in Mass Effect 3 is something that has genuinely surprised us. This is an issue we care about deeply, and we will respond to it in a fair and timely way. We’re already working hard to do that.
“To that end, since the game launched, the team has been poring over everything they can find about reactions to the game – industry press, forums, Facebook, and Twitter, just to name a few. The Mass Effect team, like other teams across the BioWare Label within EA, consists of passionate people who work hard for the love of creating experiences that excite and delight our fans. I’m honored to work with them because they have the courage and strength to respond to constructive feedback,” he explains.
The BioWare head says the exec producer, Casey Hudson and the team are working on game content initiatives that he says will help answer the questions and provide more clarity for those that are looking for further closure to their journey.
Fans will hear more 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,” states Dr. Muzyka.
