Over the last few days, the internet has been alight with some pretty hilarious Mass Effect Andromeda gifs full of people walking oddly and facial animations that aren’t quite what we’re used to from Bioware. We’ve experienced some weirdness in our play through so far, but nothing to the extent of what we’re seeing on the internet.
Well, the story took a turn for the worst today, with gamers on the internet hurling abuse at a female developer who Bioware says wasn’t the Lead Facial Animator. Obviously, no form of abuse is acceptable regardless. We’re talking about video games here.
Aaryn Flynn, who is the GM of BioWare put out the below statement on Twitter earlier today:
— BioWare (@bioware) March 18, 2017
What makes this story even more bizarre is the fact that it’s clear the the developer in question (Allie Marie Loest) does appear to have been a Lead Facial Animator for Mass Effect: Andromeda, as it’s written in her bio clear as day (at some point at least)
Honestly, one can’t blame her for quickly removing this piece of information from her page, with the kind of negative attention that she’s getting.
.@PatrickDane @bioware Wrong. Either she's lying, EA/BioWare is lying, or both. pic.twitter.com/408itKNLpD
— Ethan Ralph (@TheRalphRetort) March 18, 2017
Regardless of the fact, gamers are being incredibly nasty about something that’s for the most part, incredibly trivial. Everybody knows that Bioware creates amazing experiences and worlds, and with the final game not even out yet, it’s not fair for anyone to judge.
Honestly, some of the examples are below and they’re really hard to read. Nobody deserves this kind of treatment. These are some of the more tamer responses below. We didn’t want to include any overly repulsive ones, but there were plenty to choose from.
https://twitter.com/ElDeerWizard/status/843237332983726081
https://twitter.com/HarukiHirosan/status/843196146965188608
@allierosemarie ……………………..so terrible……….10 years of hope and dreams dashed and destroyed .
— Mrdeveus (@Mrdeveus) March 18, 2017
https://twitter.com/ginko_ro/status/843180979875397632
https://twitter.com/ThotHoward/status/843173603550134275
@allierosemarie Thank you for the fact that have made such animation of persons in ME:A. I hate you for it.
— NiNJa (@NiNJa1833) March 18, 2017
Mass Effect Andromeda will release on PS4, Xbox One and PC mid next week. Our review will be up early next week and we’d advise that you refrain from your judgement until this drops.
It’s going to be an interesting few weeks. Stay positive, gamers.