Speculation that "Mass Effect 2" has been secretly prepped for a PlayStation 3 release erupted once again this week. EA took aim at the rumor fires last year when their Russian website tagged the sequel for the PS3. Yesterday, however, BioWare took a turn at crushing dreams by responding to PS3-referencing code found in the game since its release.
"The Unreal Engine is cross platform, hence the PS3 code," BioWare community coordinator Chris Priestly wrote on the BioWare forums. "This was brought up back in 'Mass Effect 1' days as well."
He further clarified BioWare's position before locking the comment thread.
"Mass Effect is for the PC and Xbox 360," he stated.
Releasing the second chapter in a trilogy for a platform its predecessor is not available on would be an odd choice, particularly given the "Mass Effect" series' character stat carryover system. BioWare would immediately be handicapping a PS3 release, given that 360 and PC owners can begin with developed characters unavailable to the hypothetical orphan edition.
If anything, I would imagine BioWare might be keeping their options open in case they one day decide to release the trilogy for PS3, and if the code discovery does have any significance beyond being an Unreal Engine bi-product, that's probably it.
Do you want to see the "Mass Effect" series come to the PS3? Would you want to see "Mass Effect 2" ported to the PS3 if the first game weren't available there as well? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.