The next Mass Effect is somewhere on the horizon, and one of its developers–senior development director Chris Wynn–has been tweeting to fans about the game, responding to their questions with answers that may serve to clarify some of the goings-on in the Mass Effect universe.
There's been a lot of speculation about where and when the next game will be set. Based on the following tweets, it seems that the game will take place after the events of the original trilogy rather than alongside it or during the First Contact War, which takes place during a small period of time in which humanity gets its first alien encounter with the Turians and goes to war against them.
Wynn did not clarify whether Shepard would be fully out of the picture, but there's many good reasons to believe why BioWare would want to write a new story about an all new character rather than tread on old ground with Shepard, whose tale concluded in Mass Effect 3. It remains to be seen how BioWare will handle the three different endings in the upcoming title, assuming the game takes place after the trilogy rather than alongside it.
@eman32597 @dat_Matt_tho true we need to see what the mass effect universe will hold since shepards gone
— N7 Soldier-Wolf (@AlphaWolf119) February 25, 2015
@eman32597 @AlphaWolf119 @dat_Matt_tho it's holding and it is looking awesome.
— Chris Wynn (@The1Wynn) February 25, 2015
Wynn was also asked about whether Mass Effect 4 would make a showing at the upcoming E3 2015. His response was simply, "wait and see!" which sounds a lot like a yes.
The next Mass Effect may not necessarily be the only game BioWare is working on, as retailers have listed "Mass Effect" for the PlayStation 4, leading us to speculate that the original trilogy may be getting a HD release.