Mass Effect 4 News: Next Mass Effect Game Will Be 'Fresh And New,' Says Bioware Executive Producer

We don't know much yet about the next title in the Mass Effect series, but if Bioware's PAX East presentation left us with anything, it's that the upcoming game will be a pretty major departure from the original trilogy.

At the studio's PAX East panel, BioWare executive producer Casey Hudson called the Mass Effect follow-up "fresh and new."

"We are starting to get ready to develop another Mass Effect game and it's going to be a new thing," Hudson stated. "We want to be able to give fans an opportunity to get back into the world with these things you've come to know and love about the Mass Effect experience, but start something fresh and new; a new way for you to explore the whole universe in Mass Effect."

The game is currently being developed at BioWare Montreal, with Hudson continuing to serve as the game's executive producer. Hudson also confirmed that Legendary Pictures' Mass Effect movie was still being worked on, although he wasn't able to give any solid updates on the project's status.

"Hopefully it should be seen as a good thing," Hudson said. "Because what we're looking at are, I think, the right things to make sure it's going to be great. It's not just going to be a movie. It's going to be really special."

BioWare has been fairly insistent that 2012's Mass Effect 3 was the end of Commander Shepard's story, although a number of DLC packs have been released since then. The ending of that trilogy was no stranger to controversy, with fans causing such a stir about the conclusion that BioWare actually went back into the game and redid it.

That move seemed to do little for the many fans who felt let down after following the Mass Effect story for over five years, although the recent and phenomenal Citadel DLC addition seems to have engendered some good will back towards the studio.

It has yet to be seen just how different "Mass Effect 4" will be from its predecessors, although you have to imagine BioWare will be looking to distance itself from the ending of the previous trilogy.