Mass Effect: Legendary Edition Brings Back Original Trilogy In 2021

Electronic Arts and BioWare have officially confirmed a Mass Effect trilogy release--called Mass Effect: Legendary Edition--for consoles and PC. The announcement was made as part of its N7 Day celebration, and it comes after months of reports and rumors about the collection.

The collection bundles together Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and Mass Effect 3, which originally released between 2007 and 2012. The original Mass Effect released as an Xbox 360 exclusive before eventually coming to PlayStation 3 several years later. BioWare's games have been multiplatform releases since then.

The new versions will not be full remakes, but BioWare intends to improve them so players can experience them in their "best possible form[s]," according to the official announcement. That means better resolutions and frame rates, and all single-player DLC and promotional items will also be included. Elements such as textures, shaders, character models, and effects will all be improved for the Legendary Edition.

The game missing from this collection is Mass Effect: Andromeda, which launched in 2017. It wasn't nearly as well-received as its predecessors, and the Mass Effect series went on hiatus after it launched, with the BioWare Montreal team assisting on other projects. That game featured a different set of characters, including a new protagonist. It also used the Frostbite engine, which was originally meant for first-person shooters.

It's also unknown, at this point, if the multiplayer mode from Mass Effect 3 will make an appearance in the Legendary Edition.

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is due to release in Spring 2021 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC, and it will be playable on Xbox Series X and PS5. There will be enhancements on the newer consoles, as well, but more information will not be available until 2021. It isn't clear whether this will be released through a system similar to Microsoft's Smart Delivery, giving players access to both last-gen and next-gen versions of the games. Smart Delivery offers this upgrade for free.

You can check out GameSpot's original Mass Effect trilogy reviews below:

• Mass Effect (8.5/10)
• Mass Effect 2 (9/10)
• Mass Effect 3 (9/10)

Along with continued overhauls to Anthem, BioWare is also creating the next Dragon Age game. It doesn't yet have a name or release date, and we've only briefly seen some artwork, so it could still be years away from release. It will likely come out before the new Mass Effect.