November 7 has been celebrated by fans of the sci-fi RPG series Mass Effect for years as N7 Day, and this year was no exception. However, the celebration was tempered a bit by labor disputes surrounding the game"s main developer BioWare.
The developer noted N7 Day with a new teaser video that showed a helmeted figure in a black coat with an N7 logo on the front who pulled out a gun and then walked out into some blurry alien environment. An earlier countdown on publisher Electronic Arts" site seems to tease that this new game could be called "Epilson"
BioWare"s site has a message from Mass Effect"s Franchise Director and Executive Producer Mike Gamble, who had his own hints about the next game in the series:
We’ve asked ourselves many of the same questions you’ve asked us over the years! What happened to everyone you know and love in the games? Who really died? Who had kids with whom? What does a baby volus sound like? What about all the galaxies? The endings! What the heck is going on with our asari scientist-turned-Shadowbroker? What about S— nevermind...you get the idea. And of course, to those questions, there are answers, but you’ll have to wait to hear them.
Today"s N7 Day is clouded by BioWare"s decision to lay off 50 team members earlier this year, followed by a lawsuit filed by several of those laid-off employees, claiming they received lower severance pay than what was required.
Also, today a number of former QA testers who worked on BioWare"s games in its Edmonton studio picketed outside that location today, according to GameDeveloper.Biz, The QA testers worked at Keywords Studios but were laid off earlier this year when BioWare decided not to renew its contract. This happened just after the testers voted to unionize their group.