It has long been confirmed that Commander Alan Shepard will step down as the main protagonist in the upcoming continuation of the "Mass Effect" franchise. For "Mass Effect: Andromeda," he will pass the torch to another character, who will then become the galaxy's savior in another outer space battle. However, publisher Electronic Arts remains mum about details on the next adventure, including information about the protagonist.
It seems that some hardcore players of the franchise have taken matters to their own hands, as some fans speculate that they may have stumbled on some facts about the next main protagonist.
According to PC Gamer, the new trailer released for "Mass Effect: Andromeda" may have inadvertently released the name of the new character. Fans have flocked to online forums to point out that in one instance in the footage (at the 00:44 mark, specifically), there appears to be a dog tag that reads "Ryder." This might be a clue to who the next main character will be, as fans said that the tag pays homage to Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. Apparently, this will be in line with how the developers named Commander Shepard, as his is a play on Alan Shepard, the first American to travel in space.
Meanwhile, although "Mass Effect: Andromeda" won't come out until late next year, developer BioWare promises that hardcore fans will see that it will be worth the wait. Speaking with Ars Technica, BioWare creative director Mac Walters said that aside from the all-new characters and story, the biggest change for the upcoming title is how beautiful it will be, both in gameplay and design.
Studio head Aaryn Flynn agreed and said that the new updated engine made it possible. Flynn said, "What's becoming a model of development for these games—to speak more generally—is that a really clever innovation like that gets created and gets polished and actually gets working, and then gets standardized to work with the engine and the technology, so it becomes much easier to then adopt those things and say, 'I wonder if we could use that?'"
