GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.

Mass Effect Dev Revealed New IP With T-Shirt, No One Noticed

Pretty sneaky.

79 Comments

Here's a strange one. BioWare boss Alistair McNally attended the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco last week and wore a t-shirt containing a reference to BioWare's new IP--and apparently no one noticed. It's not exactly clear if McNally's t-shirt had the game's name or logo, or both, on it.

McNally shared the detail on Twitter, saying "no one batted an eyelid" at his t-shirt as he walked the show's halls.

As you might have guessed, people in the BioWare forums and elsewhere are now scrambling to find an image of McNally's t-shirt. So far, it doesn't look like any documentation has turned up (via IGN).

According to the GDC schedule, McNally did not appear on any panels at the event.

BioWare's new IP, which is in development at the studio's Edmonton office, was officially announced in September 2012. At the time, BioWare said the game was being built from the ground up running on "new gaming technology," a likely reference to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, which had not yet been released at the time.

During PAX East 2013, BioWare's Casey Hudson, who has since left the studio, said he hoped this project can match the trajectory of the Mass Effect series.

"That's kind of our next thing. We're focusing on delivering something new, the way we did at the very beginning of Mass Effect," Hudson said at the time.

At E3 2014, BioWare shared a little more about the mysterious new IP, saying it is designed to tell "contemporary stories," whatever that could mean.

We also know that the new IP is being developed by most of the "core team" that built 2003's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. It has been playable, in some form, since 2013.

Electronic Arts, which owns BioWare, has not said when it plans to release the new IP. Interestingly, asked recently to talk about what EA has in the pipeline after this holiday, EA CFO Blake Jorgensen mentioned two unannounced games.

"We've got a couple of things up our sleeve that we haven't talked about yet but you'll probably see them teased over the next six months," Jorgensen said.

He didn't say when these teases will be made, but E3 in June is one possibility that falls under the time window he provided. It may be that BioWare's new IP is one of these games, but this is not confirmed.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

Join the conversation
There are 79 comments about this story