BioWare is "proud" of Mass Effect sex content, says boss Muzyka

Speaking to videogaming247 at yesterday's EA Games Studio Showcase in London, BioWare boss Ray Muzyka said the studio was "happy" and "proud" of the sexual content of Mass Effect, saying its inclusion was tasteful and showed the RPG was an innovator in the field of games as an emergent art form.

"It's the same content, just in higher resolution," he said of the alien sex scene in the PC version of Mass Effect. "So it looks really good, right? We're happy and we're proud of the content that's in the game. We think it's appropriate for the rating the game has – it's a 'mature' rated game. It's tasteful and it's not gratuitous. It's actually adult-themed content of relationships, mature relationships that are very realistically depicted and actually very appropriate as well, and very emotionally impactful."

Muzyka added: "I think in many ways the fact that people want to talk about the relationships in the game is a good thing. It shows that games are an art form. It shows that Mass Effect is an innovator in that emergent art form that games are. We're proud to be in that space, because that's what we do: we tell great stories and we make compelling characters and we deliver an emotional experience."

The 360 version of Mass Effect was the game at the centre of the Fox News "SeXbox" scandal, in which author Cooper Lawrence appeared on the network and said a few things she probably shouldn't have.

You can listen to the full interview with Ray by hitting the play button below.

[audio:msseffectint.mp3]