How expensive would it be to remaster the Mass Effect trilogy?

SofNascimento · May 9, 2019

The Mass Effect trilogy is certainly one of the most well liked and successfuls trilogies in gaming history. The tale of Commander Shepard and their crew had its low moments, but is held in great esteem by many, included myself. And often I find myself wondering: why haven't EA remastered the trilogy yet? ~~The goddamn monster !~~

EA is not exactly a fan of remasters, so in a way they are simply following their model. Moreover, as people love to remind other people, we are not entitled to anything. So it's not like EA own it to us to remaster the trilogy. However, doesn't it sould like a good move? Which brings me to my original question. How much would it cost to EA to do it? How much work would it be?

I suppose there are many ways one can remaster games. Going from simple tweaks to more comprehensive graphical improvements (even small changes concerning game mechanics). How would they differ considering the money/time involved? Besides, would you think EA giving it to someone else to remaster the trilogy a viable option? Something like Shadow of the Colossus.

I know EA, like most if not all companies, does not simply want money. They want as much of it as they possible can have. In that sense, a ME trilogy remaster might not be the most economically rewarding endeavour. But wouldn't it be worth it?

OmniStrife · May 9, 2019

Free if you got a PC... There are some great texture packs available.

Silky · May 9, 2019

You think a bunch of enthusiasts know anything about game dev budgeting lmfao

Bro let it go, it ain't happening

The Artisan · May 9, 2019

EA is not a fan of remasters but didn't they remasters a Burnout game a year or two ago

Mjolnir · May 9, 2019

The Unreal Engine cut of the sales would be too big for EA - unless they went for Frostbite for the remastering, but then they might as well just make an entirely new game

TheGhost · May 9, 2019

I don't know, let Microsoft do that free 4k wizardry to it. I'm not purchasing a $60 remaster.

Jakenbakin · May 9, 2019

No doubt it would turn a profit, it's just obviously not worth the cost to EA. Alternatively they might be wanting to let the IP simmer down for a bit until they're ready to bring it back with a new title of higher quality.

Deleted member 47654 · May 9, 2019

Porting to Unreal Engine 4, Like 5 million dollars maybe?
But, if they are fixing ME3 properly, adding the rumoured axed content about Miranda and Aria T'Loak, the mission with Kasumi and Thane in the Hanar homeworld, more lines for the Illusive Man, extra missions (you know, a proper remake) then, even 20 millions seem small.

Deleted member 2254 · May 9, 2019

Mjolnir said:
The Unreal Engine cut of the sales would be too big for EA - unless they went for Frostbite for the remastering, but then they might as well just make an entirely new game

Is it that bad, though? I mean, an Xbox One, PS4, Switch and PC remaster of the trilogy with all DLCs included would quite certainly sell a few million copies (it's a beloved series, PS4 doesn't have the originals, Switch doesn't have ANY of the Mass Effect games, on PC and Xbox One getting all games with DLCs is expensive as there's no definitive editions). It can't cost them that much for a "quick" resolution upgrade with maybe a few asset improvements. It's so odd, EA is definitely one of the most greedy publishers when it comes to monetization, but at the same time they are sitting on so many classic games and they just... don't do anything with them, despite the relatively cheap and quick work it would be. I can understand why they don't go through the hoops of relicensing all music and cars in Need For Speed Underground, but Mass Effect trilogy seemed such a no-brainer and... it just didn't happen.

litebrite · May 9, 2019

Just give MS the OK to X enhance it and it's all the remastering I need.

FlintSpace · May 9, 2019

Very.
You will pay it by blood because EA would mess even that up.

SeanBoocock · May 9, 2019

Way more than you would think.

Mjolnir said:
The Unreal Engine cut of the sales would be too big for EA - unless they went for Frostbite for the remastering, but then they might as well just make an entirely new game

Any AAA game using Unreal Engine 4 will play upfront for a royalty free license, just as they did in the UE3 days.

Sgt. Demblant · May 9, 2019

Somewhere between 10 bucks and 50 million dollars I would imagine. Give or take.

SofNascimento · May 9, 2019

OmniStrife said:
Free if you got a PC... There are some great texture packs available.

I forgot this comment always pops up. No, it's not the same thing, texture packs can give a nicer look to the game, but remaster can do more. For example, I cannot play with a controller for example. And again no. The controller mods don't make it as good.

Silky said:
You think a bunch of enthusiasts know anything about game dev budgeting lmfao

Bro let it go, it ain't happening

There are people here that might have an idea about these kind of costs. And no, I will never let it go. You should let go of saying to people to let it go.

Kill3r7 · May 9, 2019

litebrite said:
Just give MS the OK to X enhance it and it's all the remastering I need.

Seconded.

DarkStream · May 9, 2019

Depends on what they would like to improve. A simple resolution bump takes very little. Adding features and remaking assets adds costs.

SofNascimento · May 9, 2019

Sgt. Demblant said:
Somewhere between 10 bucks and 50 million dollars I would imagine. Give or take.

I suppose it's closer to the former than the latter? With 50 mi you can make a AAA game. Surely a remaster can't cost nearly that much.

Torpedo Vegas · May 9, 2019

$25-$30, unless they decide to wait till next gen then $45

chandoog · May 9, 2019

SofNascimento said:
I forgot this comment always pops up. No, it's not the same thing, texture packs can give a nicer look to the game, but remaster can do more. For example, I cannot play with a controller for example. And again no. The controller mods don't make it as good..

You *can* play with controller mods, and the controller mods now are as good as the native controls on the consoles.

As someone who played through the trilogy just this year again on PC. The controller support and general mod support is very refined now.

Deleted member 23475 · May 9, 2019

Xbox One X enhancement will cost nothing to BioWare.
A proper remaster shouldn't be that much IMO I think and this saga deserve that. It should be really a thing as it is the biggest project/games BW ever made.
I would love to see some extra interviews videos on the developement etc. like they did back in the day for Mass Effect 1 CE. 4K textures, better models (cut DLC if possible)

Kendall · May 9, 2019

litebrite said:
Just give MS the OK to X enhance it and it's all the remastering I need.

This this this!

Just let Microsoft make the games backwards compadible and do a little 4k and performance enhancement.

SofNascimento · May 9, 2019

AceParty said:
Xbox One X enhancement will cost nothing to BioWare.

What would we be looking at with an X enhancement?

APizzaPie · May 9, 2019

chandoog said:
You *can* play with controller mods, and the controller mods now are as good as the native controls on the consoles.

As someone who played through the trilogy just this year again on PC. The controller support and general mod support is very refined now.

Agreed, I played through all three games last year with the controller and I didn't encounter any issues.

TheUnsungHero26 · May 9, 2019

SofNascimento said:
What would we be looking at with an X enhancement?

4K resolution and (based on the normal BC) more consistent framerate.

Enduin · May 9, 2019

A remaster would be nice and all, but as someone who has played them all to death I would much rather they go for a full on remake that aims to both preserve but enhance the trilogy. Add in some cut content, make changes where necessary to smooth over both the gameplay progression and combat system between the games as well as any changes to quests and plot points that didn't quite carry over or connect well. Ohh and fix the ending to not be so dumb.

bane833 · May 9, 2019

It would be way cheaper than making a new game that's for sure. There is a reason why we see a lot of remasters even of extremely niche titles.

SofNascimento · May 9, 2019

Enduin said:
A remaster would be nice and all, but as someone who has played them all to death I would much rather they go for a full on remake that aims to both preserve but enhance the trilogy. Add in some cut content, make changes where necessary to smooth over both the gameplay progression and combat system between the games as well as any changes to quests and plot points that didn't quite carry over or connect well. Ohh and fix the ending to not be so dumb.

That would be the ideal world. But this world is simply not that just.

litebrite · May 9, 2019

Kendall said:
This this this!

Just let Microsoft make the games backwards compadible and do a little 4k and performance enhancement.

Well the games are already BC so that's one obstacle down, only one more to go.

SofNascimento said:
What would we be looking at with an X enhancement?

Well through BC, the gsme has faster load times, forced V sync (no screen tearing), 16x AF, and locked 30 FPS. X enhancing it would increase the resolution by 9x pixels.

Wulfram · May 9, 2019

Enduin said:
A remaster would be nice and all, but as someone who has played them all to death I would much rather they go for a full on remake that aims to both preserve but enhance the trilogy. Add in some cut content, make changes where necessary to smooth over both the gameplay progression and combat system between the games as well as any changes to quests and plot points that didn't quite carry over or connect well. Ohh and fix the ending to not be so dumb.

But people would kick up a massive tizzy if they tried to make the ME1 combat system not suck

SofNascimento · May 9, 2019

litebrite said:
Well through BC, the gsme has faster load times, forced V sync (no screen tearing), 16x AF, and locked 30 FPS. X enhancing it would increase the resolution by 9x pixels.

Give me locked 60 fps and I buy an One X right now.

Silky · May 9, 2019

SofNascimento said:
There are people here that might have an idea about these kind of costs. And no, I will never let it go. You should let go of saying to people to let it go.

Surely EA doesn't see the value in the long term of remastering three RPGs

Brand power and fan demand only goes so far

daninthemix · May 9, 2019

I doubt anyone (anyone at Bioware, EA, or the fans) would be able to agree on what a remaster should constitute - should it be faithful? Should it change gameplay to for example standardize combat across all 3? Should it just modernise Mass Effect 1? What? No matter what they choose, a bunch of people won't be happy.

And I wouldn't be surprised if certainly EA, maybe Bioware too are sick of grumbling Bioware fans at this point and just said eff it - not worth the trouble.

In terms of your question, the answers depends on the answer to mine. But someone like Durante would surely have an idea.

Asbsand · May 9, 2019

Fans are doing it for free. If only people would pay attention to pc modding some more.

Also, I think the real reason BioWare has no desire to remaster them is:
A: Going through ME1 and 2 reminds people of how awesome the games would get, peaking with Suicide Mission probably
B: Making everyone go through 3 up to that ending again, it's just going to revitalize all the sour emotions one more time.

Mass Effect 3 thy name is "damage control". BioWare ain't too proud of that takeaway and they certainly don't want to re-experience it.

litebrite · May 9, 2019

SofNascimento said:
Give me locked 60 fps and I buy an One X right now.

Game code is not touched during the X enhancement process so fps unfortunately can't be changed. However I think people forget how unstable the framerate and frequent screentearing was when they played it on the 360/PS3 that a locked 30fps with no screen tearing makes a big difference.

SofNascimento · May 9, 2019

daninthemix said:
I doubt anyone (anyone at Bioware, EA, or the fans) would be able to agree on what a remaster should constitute - should it be faithful? Should it change gameplay to for example standardize combat across all 3? Should it just modernise Mass Effect 1? What? No matter what they choose, a bunch of people won't be happy.

And I wouldn't be surprised if certainly EA, maybe Bioware too are sick of grumbling Bioware fans at this point and just said eff it - not worth the trouble.

In terms of your question, the answers depends on the answer to mine. But someone like Durante would surely have an idea.

That's true for basically everything. If that stopped people from creating games (or movies or tv series or books) then no game would ever be made. Anyway, when I think of a remaster (opposed to a remake) I think something that is very close to the original. So I'd say 4K resolution, enhanced graphics and effects, sound, and all DLCs are the minimum.

Then you can have some options. Tweaking ME1 gunplay is not as easy as it sounds, especially because it would involve changing other things like level design and enemies. I would simply try to make enemies more reactive to being shot at. And maybe add some more weapon models (even if the guns all work the same). For ME2 I'd add a roll movement and that's about it. ME3... well. If EA really wanted to be the heroes, they would rework the entirety of Priority: Earth plus the ending. It would certainly be costy, but more than a simple remaster, it would be something that could elevate the Mass Effect name.

Rei no Otaku · May 9, 2019

I'm playing through them right now on Xbox BC and an X enhancement would honestly be all you'd need. I'd say just re-release the games as an all in one package with the DLC and let MS enchance them and you'd be set.

kc44135 · May 9, 2019

I don't think the issue is how much money it would take to remaster the games. No, I'm not in the industry, and I don't know how much a remaster would cost. However, I have to believe that, assuming we're just talking about enhanced ports here, more or less (4K, 60 FPS, same content and visuals otherwise), it would be dramatically cheaper than a fully fledged AAA game, and likely turn a tidy profit due to the game's enduring popularity, especially if sold at a full $60.

Really, the problem is EA. They don't like remasters, they don't want to do them, and they just don't see any real value in their legacy content. If you ask me, that's incredibly sad. But it is what is at this point. I would definitely say not to expect a Mass Effect remaster to ever happen.

Really, if you want that OP, the best option would probably be the PC versions. While not a PC gamer myself, I'd imagine the games are fairly easy to max out these days on modern Rigs, and you'd be able to play them at whatever resolution and framerate you wanted, plus have access to mods. There is also the off chance that they might be X Enhanced on X1X one day too, if you're cool with 30 FPS (sounds more like PC is more what you would want tho).

Dinobot · May 9, 2019

Want some napkin math?

Kotaku's jschreier put out an article stating that many publishers budget games by allocating $10,000 per employee a month.
Wind Waker HD took Nintendo 6 months to make.
A remastering studio like Bluepoint Games has around 66 employees.
10,000x66 = 660,000 a month
Assume it takes six months to remaster each game.
$660,000x6 = $3.96M.
$3.96mx3 = roughly $12m
Add in marketing, and distribution and it probably would only cost EA $20m or so to do an ME trilogy remake. With 5% of the cut going to Epic, 30% to the platform holders, and 20% to retailers for physical copies.

Please don't take the math here seriously.

My real answer is, cost isn't likely why EA hasn't done an ME trilogy remake yet. They probably don't think the ROI is worth it. ME games sold ok, they weren't huge blockbusters. And remasters usually sell less than the original games. Also, they likely don't want to give a cut to Epic.

Maybe they'd remake all three onto Frostbite lol?

JahIthBer · May 9, 2019

TheGhost said:
I don't know, let Microsoft do that free 4k wizardry to it. I'm not purchasing a $60 remaster.

There is really no wizardry to be honest, just changing it from 720p to 4K, which would be incredibly easy for EA to do & make some free $$$. I doubt they would port it to Frostbite & rework assets.

Genesius · May 9, 2019

More expensive than it would be to remaster the better Dead Space trilogy

OmniStrife · May 9, 2019

SofNascimento said:
I forgot this comment always pops up. No, it's not the same thing, texture packs can give a nicer look to the game, but remaster can do more. For example, I cannot play with a controller for example. And again no. The controller mods don't make it as good.

Most remasters are just that, a nicer look. Plus ME plays very well with a mouse and KB.

YourFriendLevi · May 9, 2019

I feel like the big question in regards to a trilogy remaster is "How do we handle Mass Effect 1?" because on a technical and gameplay level it just is not a great game. It needs more than just a visual bump, imo. Mechanically I don't think it holds up, and it has been the biggest hurdle for getting uninitiated friends into the ME Trilogy.

Dimple · May 9, 2019

TheGhost said:
I don't know, let Microsoft do that free 4k wizardry to it. I'm not purchasing a $60 remaster.

Was gonna say, wouldn't cost EA a dime, it's MS that does all the work.

inner-G · May 9, 2019

SofNascimento said:
Give me locked 60 fps and I buy an One X right now.

The PC versions run at 60

aisback · May 9, 2019

For the company not much as they could just port over the PC version.

SofNascimento · May 9, 2019

chandoog said:
You *can* play with controller mods, and the controller mods now are as good as the native controls on the consoles.

As someone who played through the trilogy just this year again on PC. The controller support and general mod support is very refined now.

SoulClap said:
Agreed, I played through all three games last year with the controller and I didn't encounter any issues.

I went to redownload the controller mod just to recheck my memory but and it seems I was wrong. It's working beautifully (ME2). Something good came out of this topic.

Phellps · May 9, 2019

They really should and bring ME3's multiplayer mode as well. That shit made a ton of money back in the day.

chandoog · May 9, 2019

SofNascimento said:
I went to redownload the controller mod just to recheck my memory but and it seems I was wrong. It's working beautifully (ME2). Something good came out of this topic.

Fantastic.

I was also in the same boat as you, yearning for a remaster for years. But after getting a relatively decent gaming computer and using the latest mods, the PC trilogy is essentially better than what we might get as remasters on current consoles (resolution + frame rate and user made texture mods).

Hell, there's even mods to restore cut dialogues from Anderson near ME3's ending (and if you really want it, someone even made a 'happy ending' mod which changes the final stretch of ME3 entirely)

TheGhost · May 9, 2019

JahIthBer said:
There is really no wizardry to be honest, just changing it from 720p to 4K, which would be incredibly easy for EA to do & make some free $$$. I doubt they would port it to Frostbite & rework assets.

I still rather Microsoft do it so I don't have to pay EA twice for a game I already own

Skiptastic · May 9, 2019

Genesius said:
More expensive than it would be to remaster the better Dead Space trilogy

Why not both?

How expensive would it be to remaster the Mass Effect trilogy?

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