Bioware Talks Mass Effect 3 MMO & Pre-Orders

Bioware announced today that pre-orders for Mass Effect 3 are well in front of Mass Effect 2 numbers. Part of the reason for the higher sales numbers is that this will be the first time a Mass Effect game has launched on both the Xbox 360 and PS3 simultaneously. EA product manager Will Graham said;

€œCurrently our pre-orders have broken the targets set, we are well ahead of where we were at the same point with Mass Effect 2 and we have all of the platforms aligned for launch, which is a first for the Mass Effect franchise, TV, cinema, online, print and outdoor activity will help capture the mainstream audience, For the core Mass Effect fan, we€™ve been building on the immersive nature of the game with a host of trailers, social media activity and fan site activation"

I figured Mass Effect 3 would sell better than Mass Effect 2 because sequels to well received games tend to sell very well. Mass Effect 2 didn't sell as well as projected mostly because the first Mass Effect game had issues not to mention the game didn't appeal to everyone and people were skeptical Mass Effect 2 was going to be as good as it turned out to be. But I am sure EA will attribute the great Mass Effect 3 pre-orders to the fact multiplayer was put in the game and not the fact that Mass Effect 2 was a lot of people's game of the year in 2010. Bioware also talked about the chances of them doing a Mass Effect MMO and why it would be an effective genre for the franchise. BioWare founders Dr. Greg Zeschuk and Dr. Ray Muzyka talk about a Mass Effect MMO:

"It's daunting, but the neat thing is it would lend itself to a different type of game play. It's fun to think about, I imagine people think it would be just like Mass Effect as it is€ but there's lots of people there. It's really interesting, I don't know. It's a tough one. When you deliver a game, and you deliver it for a player, you have to capture what they think is the possibility space," he said. "You need to let them do everything they think they should do, and you can't block them from doing anything they think they should be able to do. You have to nail all the features and content that should be in that possibility space."

I am actually hoping that Bioware don't go the MMO rout with the Mass Effect franchise, personally I would love more single player Mass Effect games with huge engrossing stories where decisions you make effect that story. What do you think would you like a Mass Effect MMO or do you prefer Bioware stick to single player experiences? Mass Effect 3 Release Date: US March 6th, EU March 9th