According to Flynn, Mass Effect 3’s endings will play no role in Mass Effect: Andromeda – it’s effectively ignored. Don’t expect any green-skinned synthesis humanoids or an immortal Shepard-controlled Reaper armada. Instead, Mass Effect: Andromeda will explain away the endings of Mass Effect 3 with one word: space.

The events of Mass Effect: Andromeda are hinted to take place so far away from the Milky Way that, despite the fact that the story takes place long after the third installment, the events of the trilogy haven’t reached the setting of the game. It’s the nature of space travel – very long distances take a very long time to travel.

Bioware’s Creative Director for Mass Effect, Mac Walters, implies this rather heavily in his Eurogamer interview, noting the concept of “how long it takes to travel between galaxies.” The exact details regarding the game’s setting will have to wait until it launches. But Aaryn Flynn does make clear, whatever the exact reasons may be, that Mass Effect 3’s endings will be absent.

Fans shouldn’t assume that means the entirety of the original Mass Effect trilogy will be ignored by Mass Effect: Andromeda. Instead, Walters heavily implies that Mass Effect fans should absolutely look forward to many references and throwbacks – perhaps even friendly faces:

Obviously, everything Flynn and Walters have to offer at this point is very vague and perhaps even misleading. Fans have to assume that how Mass Effect: Andromeda begins, as well as how humanity and its allies reach this distant location, plays a key role in the experience. That they’re unwilling to discuss these specifics until later this year or even into 2017 shows just how close to the chest these details must be kept. Or maybe it’s nothing of the sort and EA’s marketing team is keeping Bioware quiet so they don’t steal Battlefield 1’s thunder. Whatever the reasons for the secrecy, at least fans can count out Mass Effect 3’s endings being the cause.

Mass Effect: Andromeda is planned for release in March 2017 for the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Source: Eurogamer