It is 100% confirmed: Shepard is no more. Although there was hope at the end of Mass Effect 3 – after a certain ending we all speculated over for ages – that Shepard would somehow go on to feature in future core Mass Effect titles, BioWare has shot this dream down.
BioWare Montreal producer Fabrice Condominas stated as much when speaking to VG247 at a recent EA Showcase: “There is one thing we are absolutely sure of – there will be no more Shepard, and the trilogy is over.” Mass Effect 4, as we’ll tentatively call it, may not follow directly from 3 either: “This is really our starting point. Now the Mass Effect universe is vast, and very, very rich. So at this point in time, we don’t even know what kind of time frame we’re going to be in.” It is, after all, very early to be speaking about the future of the franchise in any depth outside of further DLC support, which is on-going, for Mass Effect 3.
Yeah, that means you too FemShep!
On their inspiration and intentions for a new title, Fabrice stated: “So first, we don’t want to make ‘Shepard 2′, or Mass Effect 4 with like, ‘oh there’s no more Shepard but you’re a soldier in the universe’. So this will be a very, very different context for sure, and nothing has been decided on the rest.” With the Omega DLC around the corner, fans of the series will be kept occupied. However, it is definitely bitter saying goodbye to Shepard for good. Hopefully, we will see Shepard outside of subsequent core titles, maybe even in a different medium. Either way, let’s savour what time we have left with the icon, with Omega coming November 27th.
