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Mass Effect 3 toys to feature DLC - Retail Radar

Product listing proclaims next wave of action figures from BioWare sci-fi series to feature code for multiplayer add-ons for PC, Xbox 360 versions of game.

Mass Effect 2 had a many-tentacled downloadable content plan befitting the game's sprawling sci-fi saga. It appears Mass Effect 3 will have a few more tentacles on top of that, as a product listing on the site of self-explanatory retailer Big Bad Toy Store has tied DLC for the game to the next wave of Mass Effect action figures.

Who needs a wind-up power punch feature when you have DLC?

Who needs a wind-up power punch feature when you have DLC?

According to the site, each of the four figures in the set will include a code that can be redeemed for multiplayer DLC for the Xbox 360 or PC versions of Mass Effect 3. The description notes that the codes "could…include character boosters, weapon modifications, and weapon upgrades to make your multiplayer squad stronger."

Set for release in the second quarter of the year, the Mass Effect 3 toys will include figures of Miranda, Mordin, Legion, and Garrus. Big Bad Toy Store has the suggested price of the set at $80, or $20 per figure. A BioWare representative had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment as of press time.

For more on Mass Effect 3, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

95 Comments

  • Shadow_Fire41

    Posted Feb 5, 2012 11:21 pm GMT

    so you want me to pay more then the Standard edition at full price new, to get a few pieces of DLC?

    ........whose idea was this and why did they think this was a good idea?

  • Kaiokame

    Posted Feb 1, 2012 6:44 am GMT

    Hahaha quality! That's a pretty good business plan right there. I suppose what you've got to remember is that there will be people who buy them, so as far as anything goes, its a pretty good business strategy

  • ichrard

    Posted Jan 31, 2012 9:17 am GMT

    sooooo essentially the game will be more difficult unless you shell out 20-80$? this seems oddly familiar.....

  • Nymphonomicon

    Posted Jan 26, 2012 5:49 pm GMT

    *eye twitches when I read "multiplayer"*

  • Peter_Eater

    Posted Jan 26, 2012 1:38 am GMT

    Nobody makes games for the sake of gaming anymore.

  • AlcatrazL

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 10:52 pm GMT

    i was hoping for a tali figurine :/

  • jrt1979

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 8:15 pm GMT

    I'd love me a life-sized Miranda doll. Er... toy. Er... nevermind.

  • anthonycg

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 7:46 pm GMT

    I'd like to see someone justify this to their girlfriend.

  • paxis85

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 7:15 pm GMT

    dlc attached to toys now? i don't know whether to yawn or facepalm... talk about milking the cash cow. i guess they're prepping for the March blackout lol

  • FrozenFire42

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 6:25 pm GMT

    Oh, EA. How you make me facepalm, let me count the ways...

  • eternal_blade3

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 4:16 pm GMT

    How clever art thou. It seems that I will be buying figurines in the near future.

    I'm also blaming EA for this sneaky marketing, not Bioware.

  • jaymo1978

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 3:22 pm GMT

    Ugh. You had to know we'd start to see more things like this after it was tried with Skylanders and seemed to have marginal success.

    The real question here - is the DLC exclusive to the figures, or will it be available in some other form as well (i.e. a paid download for people who don't want to buy action figures just to get DLC.)

    I hope more companies don't decide to do this, especially if it's exclusive. I guess if it's available from multiple sources, not just the figures, then it's okay - people can spend their money on the figures if they want, then. But to force people into buying an overpriced action figure they don't want just to get much cheaper content they actually DO want is a back door gouge to loyal fans.

  • isshiah

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 2:01 pm GMT

    paying 20 dollars for a statue that comes with an unlockable multiplayer weapon? that's a paddlin'.

    also, EA's marketing is so obviously profit-centric it's ridiculous.

  • opinions2

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 12:25 pm GMT

    Already have the ME2 Series 1 figures. I hope I don't have to unbox these for the code :-(

  • MassacreMonk

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 11:51 am GMT

    I'd get the figures, even without the DLC

  • sagameister3

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 11:16 am GMT

    I really didn't mind certain dlc coming with Dr. Pepper (seeing as I like to drink it anyways) but now toys? Well, I guess there will always be that select few who actually collect these things who will be happy.

  • Arranik

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 10:37 am GMT

    Poor Bioware, getting milked from that douche known as EA.

  • darckdeth

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 10:23 am GMT

    gotta love EA marketing

  • SeAzhrei

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 10:14 am GMT

    It was a joke. Jeez. Just voicing my irritation at how quick it seemed to drop like a stone after I bought it.

  • Breyant

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 10:10 am GMT

    I'm one of the biggest Mass Effect/BioWare fans around, and I for sure will not be purchasing these. Not because I'm opposed to DLC and all that other whining you hear about on here.... but just because they are ugly, and the mods/boosts DLC isn't important or necessary.

  • Revenant_Evil

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 10:05 am GMT

    This is ridiculous.

  • jjmonster2006

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 9:56 am GMT

    i don't think it dropped after a month dude. Duke Nukem didn't drop after a month. also, action figures don't look that good, not that i would get them if they were.

  • SeAzhrei

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 9:27 am GMT

    @ParisSun
    Especially given how ME2 dropped to $20 after only what, a month?

    @staranise
    This is where we find out the reapers just wanna deliver our damn pizza. 50,000 years late jerk wads! NO TIP!!!

  • SauhlGood

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 6:43 am GMT

    brand synergy?
    vertical integration?

    wheres jack donaghy when you need him!

  • gix47

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 6:27 am GMT

    entertainment earth has them for 17.99$ each and 67.99$ for the whole set...no dlc but seeing that its only for multi..not really seeing the big draw

  • chicknfeet Site moderator

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 6:13 am GMT

    $20 for a single figure...or $80 for the set...of 4? I thought the idea was to give people incentive for purchasing all 4 at once

  • staranise

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 6:01 am GMT

    aww where is the new normandy ship (ea/bioware you suck asz if there isn`t one)? so, when does taco bell or pizza hut appear in the game? ea is already putting dlc codes on toys might as well put food commercials in game.

  • ParisSun

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 5:39 am GMT

    MS3 looks less and less appealing as an immediate buy. May wait till price drop and get it used.

  • DieOrFight

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 5:12 am GMT

    Faaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkkkkke

  • spoonybard-hahs

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 5:09 am GMT

    @moonlightwolf01

    ME3's multiplayer is co-op, not competitive.

  • ioannisdenton

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 3:41 am GMT

    i am still buying miranda. DAT ass!!!

  • thedarklinglord

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 1:38 am GMT

    Meh. DLC can still suck a fat hairy one.

    However, if they were to package additional content on a disc with game-related merchandise, like toys, then I would actually be somewhat interested and possibly tempted to purchase that merchandise. I mean, while I really like the Assassin's Creed games, I can't bring myself to buy an Ezio action figure. But if you include a disc with special additional content for the game - a new costume or two, a new weapon, and maybe a side quest or two; just some fun bonus material, but nothing that breaks or unbalances the game - then I could see myself plunking down $15 for the figure.

  • moonlightwolf01

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 12:31 am GMT

    And I didn't think bioware could stoop any lower, more fool me. I guess that proves it, they have practically become EA's bi**h. The most ridiculous part about this is that if you buy an action figure you get a bonus in multiplayer, now we all know ME3's multiplayer was cooked up just to please EA in the first place but whether it would have turned out well or not, it's now going to be unbalanced in favour of those who buy action figures (and these probably won't even be available in most countries). add this to the collectors edition getting a whole extra squad character, that's right they've stripped a whole character out of the main game to persuade you to pay ÂŁ60 or whatever it is in $ to put them back in. People don't mind DLC but stuff like this where advantages are being given for people who buy stuff that's almost completely unrelated to the game undermines any integrity bioware/EA had left. I guess the next Bioware game will team up with a breakfast cereal company and offer extra DLC to people who buy 'Commander Shepard's Favourite Breakfast' at which point hopefully we'll all have become so disillusioned we boycott them and throw shoes during their press conferences.

  • Freezezzy

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 12:06 am GMT

    the codes "could…include character boosters, weapon modifications, and weapon upgrades to make your multiplayer squad stronger."

    Almost sounds like some kind of lottery, or gacha type system designed to make people buy as many as they can. I'd expect to see hundreds of these end up on eBay eventually, at an extreme markup. After the codes are used, of course.

  • marvel456

    Posted Jan 25, 2012 12:05 am GMT

    This is beyond stupidity.

  • SeAzhrei

    Posted Jan 24, 2012 11:34 pm GMT

    @Les_Halles86

    Sorry, but that just means you aren't paying attention.
    I think the problem most people have isn't that dlc exists. Though I personally feel we'd all be better off without the extra hoops to jump through. The problem is that you shouldn't, "SHOULD NOT", under ANY circumstances have to pay for content for the game you JUST paid full price for. If its known that content will be available for a game at launch, the only valid reason for it not to be pre-included is to "milk" the consumer. ME2 is the perfect example. All those disparate pre-order bonuses look great in theory. "Get the one you want." Right? But do you honestly believe that was the driving force behind EA/Bio going through with it? Or was it simply to entice the OCD gamers among us who might be willing to buy multiple copies? Keep in mind that even if those were then returned, EA still gets its payday.
    I'm not really trying to sound all conspiritorial here, but the apparent state of the industry makes it really freaking hard not to.

  • Les_Halles86 posted Jan 24, 2012 10:57 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Les_Halles86

    Posted Jan 24, 2012 10:57 pm GMT (hide)

    It's funny, the amount of people who cry about how bioware and ea are releasing all this dlc which should come included in the release. Dunno about most of you, but when ME2 came out, even with its first-day dlc, the game still felt complete. I was certainly satisfied when I finished it. Seriously, it's like you people think they're forcing this stuff down our throats. I personally probably wouldn't buy the action figures because the dlc sounds negligible at best, but with so much planned to come out for ME3, I'm actually sort of comforted by the fact that I can pick and choose which dlc I want and which is a waste of my money. I certainly didn't download every single scrap of content for ME2, but the content I did download only served to enrich an already brilliant and COMPLETE game. So. If you don't want it, then don't get it. If it infuriates you to the point that you need to boycott bioware and cry about how they only cater to the mainstream, then fine. I'll be enjoying ME3 with the dlc that I want, and that I'll gladly pay for if I think it enhances my time with it.

  • UnRelentingAlly

    Posted Jan 24, 2012 10:21 pm GMT

    $20 for one toy is pretty expensive.....but i do love mass effect hmm

  • Llama345

    Posted Jan 24, 2012 9:27 pm GMT

    lol could add.... it could also add a dent in your wallet. I highly doubt that adding 'dlc' to a toy is going to make many people buy it. I will be buying the Tali one if if they make it. And maybe Morbin. But that is because I really enjoy the in game actions of these chatacters.

  • andrew_dueck

    Posted Jan 24, 2012 9:20 pm GMT

    As long as it's online MP stuff, I don't care. If they turn Mass Effect into Skylanders, my rage will know no limits.

  • CoryHM

    Posted Jan 24, 2012 8:48 pm GMT

    Not a huge deal to be, but still pretty cool I guess.

  • MrHatnClogs

    Posted Jan 24, 2012 8:35 pm GMT

    Can it wait? I'm in the middle of some calibrations.

  • Gv0zD

    Posted Jan 24, 2012 7:53 pm GMT

    I just don't care about the toys and the mentioned DLC. Though I might buy Garrus or Legion :-P

  • daabulls23

    Posted Jan 24, 2012 7:43 pm GMT

    This is so desperate, it's sad.

  • adventurer360

    Posted Jan 24, 2012 7:30 pm GMT

    Oh no!

  • Shin_Gallon

    Posted Jan 24, 2012 7:25 pm GMT

    I want the Garrus figure, otherwise I'm good (unless they make Wrex later). Don't care about the multiplayer in the slightest, will most likely never even try it, especially if Origin is required.

  • mAArdman

    Posted Jan 24, 2012 7:21 pm GMT

    how cute

  • Roots_Of_Rhythm

    Posted Jan 24, 2012 7:05 pm GMT

    R.I.P. Bioware.

  • glennvolio

    Posted Jan 24, 2012 7:04 pm GMT

    The Mass Effect series is a victim of modern gaming. What started out as an awesome and fulfilling single-player experience has turned into a franchised seized by a greedy publisher that tacks on the seemingly-required multiplayer mode and milks the players by releasing loads of paid DLC (some of which are day-one releases, which is inexcusable) and ridiculous pre-order incentives. This action figure nonsense is just the icing on the cake. I totally miss the times that games were released complete, and that DLC was truly an add-on for games - not a way to make gamers pay $100/game. Shameful.

  • oskuuu

    Posted Jan 24, 2012 6:26 pm GMT

    The description notes that the codes "could…include character boosters, weapon modifications, and weapon upgrades to make your multiplayer squad stronger... this is just stupid; and for multiplayer i wasn't expecting much from it but if u can pay to make yourself better it's already ruined

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