Can Mass Effect appeal to the upcoming generations?

Yes, no, yes, no, yes, no yes, no yes yes no nononoyesynoyenosysnoyenso... MAYBE

It'd go over the same way Baldur's Gate does, I'd imagine.

Look at it this way, ME1 was made in the late 2000s, seems to have taken a lot of inspiration from 90's sci-fi (Babylon 5 parallels are obvious) and the soundtrack consists of 80's electronic/synth... and somehow it still works.

So yeah, I'm going to imagine people are still going to enjoy it in years to come, especially ME2 due to the amazing story and the gameplay from the ME1 being significantly improved.

The current Mass Effect barely appealed to me, it had no chance quite frankly. Quote unquote smart talky sci-fi in the star trek tradition has always been niche but it wasn't either and it wasn't particularly enthralling in the action department either - it was in that uncomfortable grey area that appealed to nobody. Publishers will always chase the big dumb money because it's easier, lower risk, higher reward and they certainly weren't buying it either.

I'm so f--king sick of comic-book movies, & lacklustre remakes these days and the false narrative that single-player games don't sell, the oversaturation of the same handful of multiplayer games that dominate the release schedule year after year quite frankly this so called new generation is a bunch of lame fucks who are killing video games, cinema, and music for the rest of us.

Until mainstream audiences stop buying endless trash (Stoklasa, 2017) and start becoming more discerning things will only get worse. At least we got 2.5 decent Mass Effect games before the market (suits) decided it was no longer financially viable to make them. Anthem is however financially viable because reasons. If Anthem is what the kids and the suits want then who am I to judge.

Obvious troll topic, but I'll respond. I don't think so. Younger players seem to want everything in a game just so they can blow by it without paying attention. I've been watching some playthroughs of different RPGs, and most don't even allow the dialogue to run (even in the old Trilogy, even in TW3). They cut it off repeatedly. They deliberately race by obvious quest areas, ignore obvious directions given by the NPCs and flatly refuse to ever allow themselves to get into the story. Then they complain about there being nothing to do. They'd rather blame the game. Blaming the game, trolling and trashing it online has become the game they play.  That's why I think story-based single-player games are on the decline... they simple don't afford the same amount of opportunity to grief and troll other payers as MMOG's do.

It's precisely this new generations the reason that everything is turning generic and awful, from aesthetics to gameplay, basically every aspect.

Funny though, I say this while i'm only in my early 20s

I've no idea of sales figures, cost of production etc. but Fallout 4 seems to be doing ok. I certainly get the feeling this whole 'single player is dead' crap is something certain companies want to be true rather than being an actual fact. Just because PUBG makes for a good stream doesn't mean those players don't also want a well written single player experience from another game.
The games market is huge and, just like movies, the audience is diverse in all respects. For anyone to say a certain genre is dead or dying, particularly major games companies, is ludicrous. By ignoring single player they would be alienating a huge number of gamers and therefore losing money. I assume common sense will prevail and multiple genres will continue, and the failure of certain games in high profile franchises will be seen for what it is, a blip caused by developer incompetence rather than a trend against SP.

Nobody is saying that single player is dead, its more like its unsustainable for they just are close to being borderline successful or not.  The big blockbuster games that don't run the risk of being a profit or not for a developer or publisher are ones that have something tied into the game to generate long term interest.  Bethesda developed games have the creation tool content relying upon players to generate new content to keep people playing where other games take another approach with multiplayer.

I cannot think of any of the single player focused releases over the last few years that were really a homerun when it comes to sales numbers.  Its the more niche titles where they don't have to make a large number of sales to break even that can do that for they have the luxury of requiring to appeal to a certain audience and not require a crossover appeal.  It is great when those smaller games have found success, but I think they are too far between to really show it as a trend either.  I think Hellblade is a good example of that for it had a unique approach and was purely single player experience, but after three months I believe it barely broke even.

Now these games are mostly from Bethesda publishing since I cannot think of many single player focused games over the last couple of years, but the ones I am thinking of are Dishonored 2, Prey, and Wolfenstein 2.  I am iffy on Shadow of War for it did have that conquest mode, but you did have to opt into that.   Are there any major publisher/large budget titles I am overlooking?

I'm 28 but attending college in Canada.

-40+ somethings don't really know Mass Effect unless they've been into its sort of gaming for a long time (and Bioware fans, etc), of course
-30 somethings do like Mass Effect
-but 20 somethings continue to like Mass Effect
-and I've seen (late) teenagers like Mass Effect
-I've seen male and female students wear Mass Effect merch clothing in just the last months
-Obviously crazes have taken attention. For every time I see a ME fan or someone wearing ME clothing etc, I see a dozen other gamers who don't know about or at least don't care a lot about Mass Effect. Currently, its about Fortnite.

The relevant marketing generations right now are Millennials/Gen Y and Gen Z. Gen Y knows Mass Effect, Gen Z somewhat knows it but Andromeda wasn't the best impression.
The next few years won't have Mass Effect. From Bioware we'll have Anthem, hopefully Dragon Age 4, and then we'll see. So the very earliest Mass Effect could come is around 2020, but more likely early to mid 2020s. At that point, Gen Y will be aging into their 30s (still lots of 20somethings, I'm just talking overall), Gen Z will be even more relevant. What do they like? What do they do?

My impression is at at least for the shorter term, their interests - if only due to exposure - will be around:
-scifi friendly, but Mass Effecty stuff has influenced so much of gaming by now, in my opinion, that another ME must be novel
-single player is still valued, despite corporate wishes, but it won't be a hit if it is single player only (sorry SP fans!)
-stories themselves are still wanted, so I don't see the argument going away hat Mass Effect should have a SP RPG storyline, but the standards may change (again)
-large or largeish open battle arenas with survival and RPG elements has been a growing trend over years, and it may only continue; whether a ME game should rely on it more than a few years from now is another question (the bubble could burst)
-as time goes on, some parts of scifi media seems laughably unrealistic while other parts seem anachronistic. Andromeda as well as other potential movements can allow Bioware to trim the anachronistic parts (as in weirdly old fashioned) out, while elaborating on what was more vaguely magical previously (especially ME3-MEA)


I can see another Mass Effect game happening. But the MP will get bigger and even might take on PvP (for better or worse), though hopefully more RPG progression elements, and the SP may involve a drop-in co-op or similar. MEA had a sense of 'you're starting off alone in this new world' but I can see a next game being all about 'you're never alone'.


I think both DAI and MEA were on this track but backstepped due to various development concerns. DAI sounded like it was going MMOish but re-purposed it all to focus much more on SP than otherwise. MEA sounded like some procedural generated cooperative experience but it scaled that all down to the more typical several locations and 'slapped on' ME3+ co-op maps. I could be wrong. But if I'm right, it sounds to me that Anthem is their big attempt/experiment at the things they've been putting off for so long (for better or worse) and seeing what works and what doesn't, and taking those lessons into whatever they may put in Dragon Age and, yes, Mass Effect. If Anthem players clamor for more story, then that's a cue that DA/ME may still be better off with story-focused campaigns. If Anthem player respond fantastically to the Destiny-esque design, then that'a cue that DA/ME may be able to get away with a more open world loot grinding with other players (even if optional). And even both of these things could happen.


I don't think Mass Effect is necessarily dead, or irrelevant to 'coming generations' (current teens). I think its going to need a longer term reassessment and strike at the right time. I don't expect a game until the 'next gen' (or at least cross-gen), 2021-2022, and prepared for 2023-2024 (but I don't want it...). When not going FUBAR, they're faster to make than a more involved RPG, so I am hoping for the former; like Edmonton hitting a stride or dropping Anthem, just finishing Dragon Age, so going full steam into Mass Effect production to release just 1-2 years after.


I might be biased by some of my fantasies though. One of them includes a conflict between factions of Andromeda and the reconnected Milky Way, Andromeda having a newer introduced Star Trekky people with SAMish upgrades but the Milky Way having more elements of of previous Star Warsy fan love but using something of more Reaperish origin. Lots of both PvE and PvP, story and grind, available in such a premise.

Can it appeal to upcoming generations? Yes.

This would not be anything new for BioWare games.  Apparently it wasn't enough.