The troubled development and even rougher post-release events that plagued Mass Effect: Andromeda not only hindered the quality of the final product but ensured that those who enjoyed the game’s lore would not see it completed via a videogame sequel.
Fortunately, it seems that Andromeda‘s story will conclude via the previously planned series of novels intended to expand the mythology of the Mass Effect universe.
One of those novels, “Mass Effect: Annihilation,” may be especially significant to Andromeda fans, as it will tell a piece of the Andromeda story many speculated may have been told via the game’s originally intended story DLC releases.
Annihilation follows the Keelah Si’yah ship as it carries “20,000 drell, elcor, batarian, and quarian colonists to Andromeda” according to an official description provided by BioWare. Along the way, a deadly pathogen begins to infect the various species aboard the ship. As the infection spreads, the crew members begin to realize that there is a very good chance this outbreak was not an accident.
The presence of the Quarian may be of special interest to Andromeda fans as that particular race was one of the game’s most notable MIAs from the previous Mass Effect trilogy. Their story was rumored to be the focal point of one of the major story-based DLC releases that Andromeda was set to initially receive.
The good news is that their story will likely be a pretty well-told one as Annihilation is being penned by Hugo and Nebula Award winner Catherynne M. Valente. The bad news is that this is probably going to be the only way that you’re going to get more Mass Effect stories for the foreseeable future. BioWare and EA have made it pretty clear that they consider Mass Effect to be a dead property at this point in time.
For those interested, one Mass Effect novel, “Nexus Uprising,” was released earlier this year and another, “Initiation,” is set to be released on November 28. It seems that “Annihilation” will not be available until sometime in 2018.