Mass Effect 3 multiplayer pass spotted

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 3 October, 2011

Evidence for online co-op builds.

An advertisement in a South African magazine suggests Mass Effect 3 has multiplayer.

A scan of a South African magazine, below, reveals the contents of the Mass Effect 3 Collector's Edition. In that list is mention of an "online multiplayer pass".

Sources have told Eurogamer that Mass Effect 3 includes an online enabled co-op mode that is standalone and features competitive elements.

We understand BioWare Montreal was creating a multiplayer Mass Effect experience, either as a standalone game or component of Mass Effect 3.

"We haven't talked at all about multiplayer in the Mass Effect franchise, but we're exploring multiplayer in all of our games and all of our franchises," BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka told Eurogamer in June. "It's always an idea we're interested in.

"The short answer is we have no comment on that. But we're interested in the idea of multiplayer."

Separately, Eurogamer understands a Mass Effect-related announcement will be made later this month. Will it be the addition of multiplayer?

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About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (43) Latest comment 8 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Dizzy #1 8 months ago

    No thanks.

  • Tyranix #2 8 months ago

    I wish they'd make up their minds...

  • username84 #3 8 months ago

    Well, if it's good and adds hours and hours of gameplay to my purchase then yes please.

    What's wrong with playing Mass Effect with friends?
    Edited by username84 at 03/10/11 @ 11:17

  • TheRealBadabing #4 8 months ago

    Wonder how much sooner this would be out if they didn't keep adding stuff that the series' fans have no interest in.

  • Jonny5Alive7 #5 8 months ago

    There's bound to be an online pass because its an EA game. Regardless of whether MP is in it or not, you would need that for the DLC.

  • Sodding_Gamer #6 8 months ago

    If it's drop in drop out co-op multiplayer for the story then that's fine. As long as I have the option to play the whole game on my own and escape that's fine by me.

  • metalangel #7 8 months ago

    ME3 seems to be turning into a Frankenstein's monster of game types as they try and cram in every conceivable element to appeal to every possible demographic.

  • FearCrads #8 8 months ago

    Ill pass thanks.

  • The_Weird #9 8 months ago

    This is blatant, transparent box-ticking, and a way of squeezing a bit mre cash out of the punter. Seems I'm not alone in thinking that Mass Effect does not need half-arsed multiplaye shit smearing on it. The essence of the game is a single player story-based adventure viewed through the eyes of one character. That's the game. Add multiplayer nonsense on to it and thats not the game. Thats another game. One I don't want to play.

  • spliffhead #10 8 months ago

    Online, pass.

  • gribb #11 8 months ago

    We all the lessons BioWare are learning regarding multiplayer with Star Wars: The Old Republic, I wouldn't be surprised if it was them not EA who want to shoehorn some multiplayer modes into this distinctly narrative-driven experience.

  • icematt12 #12 8 months ago

    My worst fear for ME3 might be about to come true. The time of offline games only might be coming to an end, but maybe they could introduce online stat saving and a community feel with it.

  • Xboxfanuk #13 8 months ago

    yes I would like multiplayer. And especially for Dragon Age. Now for those people who moan and say Bioware can't or shouldn't do multiplayer I will direct you to the timeless classic Neverwinter Nights. That game still has servers running to this day.

  • bad09 #14 8 months ago

    God will someone unplug gaming from the internet please, they are just ruining a once fun hobby with their constant forced online multiplayer crap.

  • Phoenisis #15 8 months ago

    I love it when developers (or publishers) waste resources shoehorning in a crappy, tacked on multiplayer component onto a game that doesn't suit it at all, just for the sake of having an extra bullet point to put on the box - and an extra feature with which to hold 2nd hand sales hostage.

    If they want multiplayer Mass Effect then great: Make a Mass Effect game focused on multiplayer, with all that entails when it comes to gameplay, level design, amount of content, and so on. As it stands, the MP part of ME3 will almost inevitably be pointless garbage in a game that didn't need it.

  • Whitster #16 8 months ago

    For me I'm perfectly happy with a seperate multiplayer mode or even possibly an in game arena/co-op type deal under the guise of virtual training/futuristic entertainment or sport. I don't however want people popping into my game randomly taking my team control away (however if this is implemented with an option to play a privite game then good luck to the people who want it)

  • yoomazir #17 8 months ago

    yay, multiplayer...

  • Nova1977 #18 8 months ago

    I call bs I recognize the layout of that ad from a local gaming store here in SA. It's bs these guys don't know anything about anything, they're always getting into trouble over here over their crappy service and mis-information and screwing up pre-orders an d high prices and believe me DO NOT TAKE THIS ADVERT SERIOUSLY. THEY SUCK! Btw I have this very catalogue with that pic right in front of me right now.

  • Petrarch #19 8 months ago

    Mass Effect has always been presented very much with the vibes of "Your Shepard, Your story" - I really do hope it is simply an online pass akin to the Cerberus Network as cramming in multiplayer to the last chapter of the story flies in the face of all that, especially when the opinion seems to be heavily against needing it from the community. Even if it was done in the style of Dead Space 2 with being totally separate, no achievements tied in etc and the single player unaffected, it would still be received negatively I suspect and be perceived as little more than a waste of time & resources.

    If they want it, save it for a spin off and leave the trilogy alone.

  • Xardan #20 8 months ago

    Oh EA...

  • HyperTails #21 8 months ago

    Mass Effect 2 on PS3 had an online pass to get the Cerberus pack DLC, so i'm hoping this is not for MP (please BioWare, don't tack on a MP that nobody will bother with), but for something along those lines.

  • TheDarkFurie #22 8 months ago

    No, no, a thousand times no.

  • Slipstream #23 8 months ago

    Why are people comlaining about Multiplayer? IT's a seperate feature that you do not have to EVER select. The immersive Single Player is still there, and for those of us that have finished the single player to our own satisfaction Multiplayer should be a welcome addition.

    I've played through ME2 twice, earning extra achievements and seeing both side of the Paragaon/Renegade spectrum, after that there's hardly any reason to pick it up again outside of the DLC. A Multiplayer feature would've added some more life to the game if only for a short while and wouldn't had any impact on the atmosphere and scale of the single player story.

    People are being really petty, not uncommon on EG mind.

  • bad09 #24 8 months ago

    @Slipstream

    People complain about multiplayer because for most it's unwanted so draining time and resources on a crap multiplayer hardly anyone will use seems incredibly stupid and wasteful.

  • tyrant1 #25 8 months ago

    Cant speak for the annoucement next month, but this stinks of "accidentally" miswording the DLC pass free with the CE. There is no mention of all the free DLC otherwise, and none of the spiel above mentions online multiplayer, so Im guessing it was an "accident" in writing it up so that it drums up interest.

    Hopefully the reveal next month isnt multiplayer, because the game will be substantially worse if thats the case. Hopefully its a new single player element or something else.

    And can they stop using that shitty default femshep? Its boring and crap, and after all the whining from the tiny minority who play femshep, I dont think its worth it.

  • Hindle #26 8 months ago

    Post deleted at 23:04:43 04-04-2012

  • HyperTails #27 8 months ago

    @slipstream

    We're complaining because having a focus on MP detracts from the SP mode. If they didn't have a bunch of guys working on a tacked on MP, they could be improving the SP. Mass Effect is a SP juggernaught, its an entire universe. Why have some tacked on MP deathmatch mode (it's always a tacked on deathmatch) when nobody will be playing it 2 weeks after launch. People want a SP experience when they play a game like Mass Effect, and BioWare are probably my favourite developers, but EA's taint has already infected them like the blood of a Darkspawn at a Grey Warden joining ceremony.

  • icematt12 #28 8 months ago

    Time spent on Dead Space 2 SP - 20+ hrs
    Time spent on Dead Space 2 MP - no more than 20 minutes

  • funkateer #29 8 months ago

    I hope this doesn't take something away from the core SP game itself, but we don't know anything about this multiplayer part yet.

    If it turns out to be a yet another bolted-on Death-Match and Capture the Flag, then we can complain about milking, corporate box-ticking and lack of creative vision. But until then we could just wait and see.

  • Slipstream #30 8 months ago

    We're complaining because having a focus on MP detracts from the SP mode. If they didn't have a bunch of guys working on a tacked on MP

    At this point this is conjecture though. Bioware are undoubtedly aware of how much flak they'd get from the community if they mess up the single-player, just look at the stupidity of the fans surrounding female shepards hair colour, a perfect example of the stress Bioware have to face when the 'fans' cry.

    So far the gameplay footage of ME3 is looking stellar and is showing no signs of faultering. Regardless of the outcome though, there will be tears.

    As for Dragon Age 2 well I'd say they learned from that, even admitting to their shortcomings, but that's a different dev team isn't it?

  • Kanjin #31 8 months ago

    What Slipstream said, Bioware knows by now they have an unpleasable fanbase.

  • TexMurphy01 #32 8 months ago

    Oh yes, I'd almost forgotten about the 17 year old emo Shepard.

  • Shakey_Jake33 #33 8 months ago

    As long as it's kept completely separate from the main game, I don't mind. I have absolutely no interest in playing this game as a multiplayer.

  • uknortherner2000 #34 8 months ago

    @Kanjin: "What Slipstream said, Bioware knows by now they have an unpleasable fanbase."

    BioWare don't have a fanbase. They have a farm full of cashcows to be milked whenever they wish. Compliance is mandatory, and any dissent is met with a forum ban and or/game lock-out.

    People need to stop feeling nostalgia for what is little more than a corporate husk these days.

  • Rack #35 8 months ago

    Ugh, damn it EA, things were looking so promising when you made Dead Space and Mirror's Edge. How did things go so horrifically wrong?

  • dagas #36 8 months ago

    Co-op sounds fun actually. Why are people so against this? It would be another thing if it was Team Deathmatch and such, but being able to play with a friend just seems positive. And it's stand alone so no one is forcing you to play it. The story will still be played alone as it should.

  • gav082 #37 8 months ago

    I dream of a multiplayer game with a story as rich as ME. Where the choices I made had real reactions from my friends, instead of preprogeramed AI responces. Alas I dont think I'll ever see the like, Borderlands, Secret of Mana, and Zelda fourswords will have to do.

    @slipstream I agree
    Edited by gav082 at 03/10/11 @ 14:38

  • HyperTails #38 8 months ago

    uknortherner

    As much as I disagree about BioWare being a husk, I agree with you about their forums comment. Ive looked on their forums before, though never osted, and found the BioWare mods to be condescending arseholes at times. Its too draconian over there, and so, desite being a fan, I dont ost.

  • Hal82 #39 8 months ago

    RELEASING CONTROL. THIS HURTS YOU.

  • Quixz #40 8 months ago

    As long as the Co-op mode has nothing to do with the main story it's all good!

  • anomagnus #41 8 months ago

    Holy shit, entirely optional online component of a video game is being forced on me?! Cue indignant rage, and get my internet anti bioware bandwagon round here, RIGHT NOW!! I need to spout fake rage as fast as possible, or people might think i'm a fucking rational person!

    How many of you people bitching remember that BG2 was a multiplayer game? How many of you remember that NVN was nothing more than a proto MMO? Probably none of you.

    Bioware was pioneering multiplayer in RPGs before multiplayer was even a concept outside of FPSs. They actually stopped for a while, PRIOR to having EA acquire them, and now they're returning to something they pioneered ten years.

    But hey, its cool to shit on Bioware right now, so lets just say that this is a sign of EA buying them, and they decline in quality, and how things were better years ago. Which was the same time when they were putting multi player in games.

  • towo #42 8 months ago

    ME2 already had online passes with the Cerberus network stuff.

  • captain_letmein #43 8 months ago

    But, can I play as Joker?