Mass Effect dev "already thinking about" the series' future

Dr. Greg Zeschuk, co-founder of RPG giants BioWare, has revealed that the studio is “already thinking about” the future of its lauded sci-fi series, Mass Effect.

Chatting with the folks at Game Informer, Zeschuk moved to squash fears that the celebrated space epic would be put on the back burner for a while following the release of Mass Effect 3 later this year.

"We're pretty big. We have lots of teams. Lots of possibilities. Even though we will effectively finish the trilogy, it's not like it's over in the sense of 'Hey, we're going to put the Mass Effect world on the shelf forever and never come back to it.' We've already been thinking about that,” he commented.

"We're deep in development on 3 and it's chugging along. So really an objective for us at this point is get that done, but also think of the future of the universe.”

And, while keeping mum on any specific details regarding the series' future, Zeschuk said BioWare is keen to push the brand forward and ultimately make sure fans are satisfied with the result.

"One thing that's really clear is people love the Mass Effect universe. We really want to make sure that what we're doing next is going to satisfy them and really move it forward."

Mass Effect 3 is due out on PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360 in late 2011.