BioWare has expressed their intention to make changes to Mass Effect 3's storyline because of recent leaks.
Major story keypoints were leaked out when a beta version of the game was accidentally released over Xbox Live.
Entire segments of the game's plot—from the beginning and middle to the very ending were leaked out by players who had a chance to grab the game and play it before Microsoft realized their error.
Bioware cautioned fans not to look at the leaks, but curiosity got the better of many players—while others simply had the misfortune of stumbling upon the spoilers, and not by choice, as many gaming forums were inundated by spoilers within the titles alone.
The developer says that they intend to change various aspects of the story to give players who were spoiled by the leaks a new experience when they play the game upon its release. They will also be taking feedback from people who commented on the story's similarity with Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space—an excellent series of science fiction novels.
Surprisingly, Bioware is taking it all in stride.
"We listen to our fans all the time. We listen to them on the forums, their feedback from stories. We're reading it all," said Ray Muzyka in an interview with Eurogamer. "If we can get ideas out of it that will make the game better, sure. We're not adverse to taking feedback. That's part of our core values, is humility. Any time we get a good idea from fans… they're our audience. They keep us in business."
That said, there's very little chance that any major aspects of the game's plot will be changed given how much time it's spent in development.