Bioware asks: Should Mass Effect 4 be a sequel or a prequel?

Executive producer of the Mass Effect series, Casey Hudson, has been asking fans where they'd like to see Mass Effect go next.

Executive producer of the Mass Effect series, Casey Hudson, has been asking fans where they'd like to see Mass Effect go next. "Parsing through your thoughts on the next #ME game," said Casey in a tweetspotted by Eurogamer, "Would you be more interested in a game that takes place before the trilogy, or after?" AFTER. No, wait. BEFORE. No wait, I DON'T CARE JUST LET ME BE A KROGAN.

The universe is left in quite a state after Mass Effect 3's ending, but it'd be possible to work around those multiple endings if the fourth game is set far enough in the future, and it'd be interesting to see how far each species has evolved in the centuries after the Reaper invasion. It'd also allow for the introduction of entirely new sentient species able to flourish in the wake of the Reapers' demise.

But there are many stories to be told before the trilogy takes place, too. There's the first contact war between the humans and Turians, and there's the situation that led to the creation of the Genophage. Of course, now Shepard's story is done, there's no reason we'd have to even play as a human in Mass Effect 4. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Jelly McJello, first Hanar Spectre . Oh yes.

ME4 is being developed by Bioware's Montreal studio while the folk at Edmonton work on something new. It'll use Frostbite, and will be “enhanced by many of the systems that the Dragon Age III team has already spent a lot of time building," according to Montreal studio director Yanick Roy. "You can still expect the pillars the franchise is known for to be fully intact though, including diverse alien races, a huge galaxy to explore, and of course rich, cinematic storytelling," he says.

What do you think, sequel or prequel?