Short of playing the new content itself, we’ve finally reached the end of the Mass Effect 3 ending debacle. Bioware already announced they will be releasing ending DLC for Mass Effect 3, but now we know some details. It’s called Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut, it’s coming this summerto the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC and it will be free. It will not change the much derided Mass Effect 3 ending, but it will fix the much derided lack of closure by including epilogues and additional cinematics designed to make your story’s ending feel more personalized. Who knows if it’ll work, but it’s a start.

Of course, as a gamer who was not a fan of the original Mass Effect 3 ending, I’m glad that I’ll be getting some additional content to flesh it out and also glad that the additional content will be free. On the other hand, as a gamer in general and someone who tries to respect artistic vision, I’m downright terrified of the precedent being set here. Sure, it feels good to get free DLC now, but Bioware has essentially come out and said that sufficient consumer pressure will make them cave and create additional content for a game, but not only that: They will also release said content for free. I mean, in this case the ending of the game in question was pretty poor, but if gamers start trying to hold other developers hostage with increasingly loud criticism of increasingly minor details, you can see how the industry would be worse off for it.

In any event, we haven’t slipped down that slope quite yet and what we have to look forward to now is the hope that the Mass Effect 3 endings can be salvaged a bit. Hopefully Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut is effective, because even if it’s free, the precedent might cost the industry a lot.

A statement on the subject from Bioware co-founder Dr. Ray Muzyka:

(via Coming Soon)