Mass Effect: Andromeda Teasing New Multiplayer Difficulty Mode And New Race

Multiplayer in Mass Effect: Andromeda will be getting a new difficulty mode soon. In a new trailer, developer BioWare and publisher EA have teased Platinum difficulty for the game's Apex multiplayer missions, challenging players to "take your skills to the next level." Little more is revealed in the video, but we'll presumably learn more about the update in the near future.

Apex missions are Andromeda's multiplayer squad-based challenges, and new ones have continued to be introduced since launch. The Platinum missions join Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels for more skilled players.

The trailer also appears to tease a new race for Andromeda: the batarians. One is seen in the video above, despite not being found in Andromeda to this date. The species was seen in the original trilogy, most notably in Mass Effect 2.

The news comes just a few days after reports emerged that Andromeda would not be getting any single-player DLC and that a sequel had been shelved. They followed previous reports that EA had put the Mass Effect series on "hiatus" and scaled down BioWare's workforce. According to Kotaku, a small team will remain working on Andromeda's multiplayer portion to add content and push out fixes. However most of the game's primary development studio, BioWare Montreal, has apparently moved on to other projects.

The Edmonton, Canada-based developer has since unveiled its new IP, Anthem, which is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in 2018.

In our Mass Effect Andromeda review, critic Scott Butterworth said, "In many ways, Andromeda feels like a vision half-fulfilled. It contains a dizzying amount of content, but the quality fluctuates wildly. Its worlds and combat shine, but its writing and missions falter--and the relative strength of the former is not enough to compensate for the inescapable weakness of the latter." He awarded the game a 6/10.

For more on the sci-fi RPG, check out our two part documentary on the making of Mass Effect: Andromeda.