Next Mass Effect in the hands of BioWare Montreal

Development of the new game in the Mass Effect series in under way, but not at BioWare Edmonton, which handled the first trilogy. BioWare Montreal has picked up the reins and will be using the Frostbite 2 engine for the new series.

The Montreal studio will be taking over the helm of the next game, and, although it has not released a game of it own, studio director Yanick Roy said in a blog post that the studio has handled cinematics and N7 missions for Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3's surprising multiplayer mode, and a "large piece" of the upcoming Omega DLC. Casey Hudson of the Edmonton studio will continue to be executive producer. Like with Dragon Age 3, the team will be moving away from Unreal Engine to EA's in-house Frostbite 2.

Roy said the studio will be respectful of the heritage of the Mass Effect series. "We are exploring new directions, both on the gameplay and story fronts. You can still expect the pillars the franchise is known for to be fully intact though, including diverse alien races, a huge galaxy to explore, and of course rich, cinematic storytelling."

Now that the transfer of development power has been announced, BioWare Montreal has revealed several new job postings.