Mass Effect Statue Pulled for A Very Weird Reason
BioWare has pulled Mass Effect's Shephard Death Statue from stores after fans pointed out that it was an awkward choice.
The newly launched Mass Effect statue of Commander Shepard has been pulled from sales from the BioWare Gear Store for being weird—as stated by the very company that released the statue in the first place. Interestingly enough, the fandom didn’t make much fuss about the statue; its nature only led to mass confusion among the fans, but BioWare apparently decided to remedy the situation nonetheless. See the statue for yourself below.
According to Kotaku, BioWare pulled the Mass Effect statue depicting the dead Commander Shepard floating through space at the beginning of Mass Effect 2. It was intended to be a part of the series of statues which commemorate some of the most crucial and emotional moments in the series.
However, the company also acknowledged that the announcement wasn’t conveyed properly, nor did it give the moment in the acclaimed gaming series the credit and weight it deserves. So, the company decided to pull the statue from sale until further notice.
For those who aren’t fully aware of the situation, BioWare announced the statue of the Commander seemingly dead and floating in space, with a rather odd press release in which the collectible depicts Shepard expelled from Normandy and hurling through space to her untimely demise. The Mass Effect fandom’s reaction was one of confusion rather than anger and toxicity but BioWare took a rather short feedback list and decided to act upon it. This is really interesting, considering the “take-it-or-leave-it” attitude assumed by other companies, such as Sony.
To be perfectly clear, there’s really nothing wrong with the statue, and nobody was really angry about the depiction of a seemingly dead Mass Effect protagonist, but of all the scenes from the series BioWare had to pick that one, and with that press delivery. Are they trying to communicate something? The statue, which is released as a part of a range of products also featuring Kaidan, Thane, and the Illusive Man, is supposed to be a conversation starter piece, and for the most part, BioWare did what it intended to do; the statue really depicts one of the most memorable moments in the franchise, and here we are discussing it.
It’s also worth noting that the Mass Effect statue didn’t really receive negative criticism. It just had a slightly Addams-esque reception due to its press release, so it might make a comeback to the BioWare Store in the future once the marketing team at BioWare re-evaluates some of its decisions. The drawback of the current recall is the fact that any pre-orders placed by those who actually liked the statue won’t be fulfilled.
Instead, BioWare opted to cancel said pre-orders and provide a full refund to anyone who placed a pre-order.
This isn’t the first time BioWare Sear Store has gone rogue. Last year, it released a Mass Effect 5 poster promising Shepard’s return. The poster was subsequently removed, and the company’s project director stated that the store personnel made a horrible mistake, which is the last thing we actually heard about the upcoming game ever since it was announced in December 2020.
