Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut not created to ‘make everybody happy’, some feedback not addressed

On the eve of the release of Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut, one of the most controversial DLC releases ever for a game, one major question looms: what if people still don't like the ending?

Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut, free DLC designed to provide closure to BioWare's thrilling, but controversial conclusion to the Mass Effect franchise "through additional cinematic sequences and epilogue scenes", will release tomorrow. While it will hopefully appease the masses, BioWare has readily admitted that there was some feedback that they couldn't address, and that it won't satisfy everyone.

Of course, that was already a given. When was the last time 100% of a group of gamers were completely satisfied with anything? Now add a franchise like Mass Effect with such a strong following to the equation and suddenly you begin to worry this new Extended Cut still won't be enough.

"Ultimately our passion is entertaining people, so delighting them with our stories and giving them amazing worlds to escape to, that's what we love to do, so in this medium it just wouldn't make sense for us to make some kind of artistic statement, and then turn our backs on it forever," executive producer Casey Hudston told OXM.

"There was some feedback that we can't address," he warned. "There are people who just outright rejected the whole concept of the endings, and wanted us to start from scratch and redo everything. And we can't do that because that's not our story, we wouldn't know how to write that story."

"What excites us is the challenge of learning how people consume our stories, so it's a learning process for everybody. And then incorporating that feedback, that's how we make our work better."

BioWare received a lot of feedback – some constructive, mostly negative – about the ending of Mass Effect 3. Hudson reiterated that the constructive criticism, even when critical, "means a lot" to the company and dev team.

"When things are really constructive like that, even when it's critical, it means a lot to us, because when you think about the artists and writers, all the people here – they work because they're passionate about games," said Hudson. "They're passionate about making a really great experience for players. So when they get constructive feedback, constructive criticism, they're really excited about that."

He added: "You can never completely satisfy everyone. We've seen a whole range of feedback, ranging from people who wanted a total redo, to people who had concerns and questions about the original endings, to people who loved the original endings and have told us they don't want to change anything."

If you think about it, it's really a no win situation for BioWare. If they change something, someone is bound to get upset. No one will ever be completely satisfied with anything, but Hudson admitted they didn't create the Extended Cut to make everybody happy – or the game perfect. And there's no doubt, at least in Hudson's mind, that the Extended Cut will stir up a whole new debate about Mass Effect 3.

"So there's no doubt that there will be a whole new wave of discussion and debate, maybe even controversy. But we didn't do the Extended Cut because we're trying to make everybody happy, make it perfect – we just saw an opportunity to expand on things that we felt could add value to the experience, for those that appreciate it," he concluded.

Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut will release tomorrow, June 26, on Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 in North America. It will arrive on July 4th for PS3 in Europe. It will take up roughly 1.9 GB of space and will *spoiler* require players to load a save game from before the attack on the Cerberus Base and play through to the end of the game.

For a lot of fans, Mass Effect 3 was a great game, until the ending. Will Extended Cut change their opinion – we'll just have to wait and see. I just hope we don't get a lot of people who just bi*ch for the sake of bi*ching.

[OXM]