EA will merrily delay Mass Effect: Andromeda by as much as 5 months if it feels the need, because it has the money to do so
If Mass Effect: Andromeda looks a bit rubbish near launch, BioWare will be given a generous amount of time to tidy it up.
Mass Effect: Andromeda probably won't be one of those releases rushed to market in an unfinished state because the publisher wants some quick cash. Hooray!
During EA's financial briefing today, chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen said EA has the necessary financial breathing room to push Mass Effect: Andromeda back considerably.
"We’re willing to make moves in launch dates if we feel that it’s necessary to deliver the right player experience. Our guidance assumes that Mass Effect continues to be in this [fiscal] year, but it gives us some flexibility that we might choose to move it either a week or three, or four, or five months if we have to based on what we want to make sure in terms of delivering the right experience to the players," he said.
"So no news on Mass Effect other that we continue to have it in our guidance and the moment that changes we’ll certainly let everyone know.”
This isn't a hint, though; EA currently expects Mass Effect: Andromeda to release before the end of March 2017, and Jorgensen says it's going very well.
“Our focus is on building great games, and right now Mass Effect is tracking extremely well, the game looks beautiful, and we’re really pleased with its progress," he said.
Good to know. I'd feel better about it if we actually got to see Mass Effect: Andromeda, though; at this stage it's only four or five months out and the only snippet released to the public just looks like Dragon Age: Inquisition in space, a prospect I do not relish but feel is probably inevitable after Inquisition's success. Well, we shouldn't have to wait long - BioWare has begun teasing imminent Mass Effect: Andromeda reveals.
Unless something goes spectacularly wrong and it really does get pushed back five months, I'd expect to see Mass Effect Andromeda at either The Game Awards or PlayStation Experience in December - if not sooner.