Mass Effect: Andromeda Release Date Revealed

Completely out of the blue, Mass Effect Andromeda has gotten a proper release date. Even more surprisingly, it’s coming out sooner than anyone probably expected. The latest part of the space RPG saga will be coming on March 21st to the US, while European players will have to wait a couple more days, until March 23rd. Because all those digital copies take a while to transport, pass customs, stock in the shops, etc.

The news comes via a post on the game’s official site. In it, Aaryn Flynn, the general manager at Bioware, explains the reasons for the surprise announcement.

Over this holiday break, developers at BioWare took home a version of the game in what we call the “holiday build”. This is a longstanding studio tradition that goes back to the early days of the original Mass Effect. Many load up a PC or console and go home to play as much as possible at their leisure. Coming back from holiday, the feedback has been great. Getting the endorsement from members of our studio, many of whom played key roles on the original trilogy, was definitely a key factor in helping us lock in on the date.

He goes on saying that they’re not rushing the game, taking all the time they need to finish it up properly. He calls it their most ambitious Mass Effect game yet, and thanks the fans for their patience.

So, early spring. Who’d have thought? The way the hype machine works has obviously changed a lot in the past couple of years, since lots of people were expecting the new ME during the fall season at best. I must say, I like this model better. Waiting until the game is almost done before pumping out the news makes for less waiting, which is always good.