You’ve seen the leaks. You’ve heard the rumors. Now, it’s official: Bioware Studios is taking the Mass Effect series out of our galaxy and into another.
Described as “very much a new adventure, taking place far away from and long after the events of the original trilogy,” Mass Effect: Andromeda is something of a spiritual successor to your journey with Shepard.
The new game will feature some species old and new as well as your two new protagonists, male and female, according to a release by Bioware Canada’s Aaryn Flynn and Yanick Roy.
“You will play a human, male or female, though that’s actually not the character you saw in the trailer (more on that later),” Flynn and Roy write. “You’ll be exploring an all-new galaxy, Andromeda, and piloting the new and improved Mako you saw. And through it all, you will have a new team of adventurers to work with, learn from, fight alongside of, and fall in love with.”
Though the game makers caution that the game’s still “many months” away from release, they promise many more details to come in the year and a half until then. We do expect some explanation as to how Johnny Cash ended up in outer space with you, though.
According to Flynn and Roy, Andromeda‘s been in development since the studio’s release of Mass Effect 3‘s Citadel DLC three years ago in 2012. You can view the cinematic trailer above, intergalactic cowboy swagger and all.
Mass Effect: Andromeda will release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in Holiday 2016.
Via Bioware