Microsoft speaks on Mass Effect

As soon as EA announced it had acquired BioWare Corp. and Pandemic Studios, the Xbox community wondered what would happen to the Mass Effect trilogy, which BioWare intended to begin and end on the Xbox 360 platform.

First, Microsoft Game Studios has confirmed that EA’s acquisition of the developer of “Jade Empire” and “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic” won’t at all affect next month’s release of Mass Effect. However, future games in this franchise are facing a dark horizon:

Microsoft has not yet announced specifics regarding sequels to “Mass Effect” but we’ll be talking to EA and BioWare in the weeks to come. “Mass Effect” is the most anticipated role-playing game of the season, on any platform, and we are committed to the franchise’s long term success.

When we asked about the ownership of the intellectual property, Microsoft confirmed that--unlike the Halo and Project Gotham Racing IPs, which are owned by Microsoft and not the respective developers--BioWare Corp. owns the Mass Effect IP.

Published by Microsoft Game Studios, Mass Effect will ship to retailers throughout North America on November 20, 2007. The recipient of more than 50 awards, including the 2007 Game Critics Awards for “Best Console Game” and “Best RPG” at the Electronic Entertainment Expo last month in Los Angeles, “Mass Effect” is poised to become the must-play RPG of 2007.