This generation of consoles, more than any other before it, has been dominated by remakes and remasters. It seems like every year we get a new list of older games that are getting upgraded and released on PS4 and Xbox One. Gamers still buy them up in the millions, but there has been an overall sentiment that it has become a problem. This sentiment seems to be shared by EA’s COO Peter Moore.
Speaking with IGN, Moore was asked if we should expect a Mass Effect Trilogy remake any time soon. He responded, “It feels like pushing stuff out because you’ve run out of ideas. Remakes, because of who we are, and this broad portfolio of intellectual property…you add all that together, I don’t know where we find the time to do remakes. We’re a company that just likes to push forward.”
Moore does understand why others do produce remakes though, explaining how much easier it is to take an existing property, dress it up, and cash out. “For a lot of companies, remakes are a way to drive revenue. It’s sub-cost, it’s an IP that’s there, you can remaster, and that’s great. We don’t do that here. I don’t think that’s ever been in our culture.”
Moore also spoke about backwards compatibility, essentially saying that gamers aren’t that interested in the feature. “In the old days, backward compatibility was to convince your mom to buy the new console — not that you were ever going to use it,” Moore said. “Once you got it? Those things went in the drawer, or on eBay.”
These comments have certainly been met with agreement and argument from multiple sides. One problem is that they come from EA, a company that is well known for yearly releases with little variation. However, remakes are definitely becoming a problem this generation, and many gamers agree with Moore’s sentiment. Either way, Mass Effect is already available for Xbox One Backwards Compatibility, so you can always hit it up there.
