Mass Effect 3's creative director on multiplayer, MMOs and Bethesda

We've previously covered Mass Effect 3's jolly exciting multiplayer mode, but Mass Effect 3's creative director Casey Hudson's shed a little more light on it in an interview with Xbox World .

Multiplayer's always been on the cards for the Mass Effect series, but the solution was to build Mass Effect 3 from the ground up with multiplayer in mind. Rather than controlling Shepard, the player is charged with an independent character for multiplayer. “Shepard is still the hero, making the big decisions, deciding what's going to happen with the universe and building alliances,” said Hudson. “But now there's armies all over the place, fighting to just hang onto different locations.”

This approach inevitably leans towards an Mass Effect MMO - something BioWare head Ray Muzyka has previously hinted at. "On a personal level, I think I would like to play a Mass Effect MMO,” said Hudson. “I would love to just be in a lot of these locations. I would like to live in the Citadel, and walk around and do neat stuff, get caught up in adventures."

Hudson was also quizzed on the 'friendly rivalry' between BioWare and Skyrim publishers and developers Bethesda. “We really look forward to new Bethesda games, but our personal focus tends to surround core narrative experiences,” he said. “By that I mean really shaping the experience like a blockbuster movie, really making it yours; that you're personally influencing the story. I think both approaches are equally valid.”