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BioWare Clarifies Leaked Info on ‘Mass Effect’ for iPhone

mass effect 1Last week we reported that news of an upcoming iPhone installment of Mass Effect had surfaced.  We pointed to a Joystiq story indicating that one of their readers had taken a survey containing questions concerning an upcoming iPhone version of the popular console action role-playing series.

It turns out that BioWare was preparing to announce the title, but one of the testers in a focus testing group broke the NDA and word got out earlier than planned.  In an effort to dispell rumors and clarify the somewhat vague information surrounding the game, BioWare’s Chris Priestly, forum Community Coordinator, posted a few details in the company’s forums.

1 – Yes, this is not a hoax or fake story. BioWare is making a game for the iPhone and iPod Touch based in the Mass Effect universe.

2 – We were going to announce this, but one of the testers at a focus testing group broke the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) and things were revealed before we had the chance.

3 – The game is going to be available for the iPhone AND the iPod Touch.

4 – The story of the game is not a “bridging" story between Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2. It is a cool little side-story about one of the upcoming Mass Effect 2 characters. It is not “required reading" to enjoy the core trilogy, but if a fun optional “extra" game.

5 – The development on this game is being done by a separate, dedicated team with no connection to any Mass Effect DLC development or patches so this is not “the reason there hasn’t been new DLC or patches".

6 – BioWare and the Mass Effect team want to branch out in a number of ways with the ME universe, and this is just one example of such branching out. We think the iPhone and iPod Touch are exciting new platforms for games, and this game was designed for these platforms from the ground up.

7 – More information about the this game is coming later this month. None of the info that was leaked is ‘official’ by any means – it was research. We’ll have much more information in the future.

Priestly indicates that much more information on this upcoming iPhone title will be coming soon.  We’ll bring further details on this as they surface.

[ thanks killercow ]