BioWare is apparently going to need a bit more time to take us back to the stars. EA chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen has commented that Mass Effect: Andromeda will be releasing during the company’s fourth quarter.

He was speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference 2016 about the upcoming lineup for the fiscal year that begins on April 1, 2016. EA’s fourth quarter takes place from January 1 through March 31.

“We’ve got our Battlefield first-person shooter game coming in the third quarter,” Jorgensen said. His comment also indicates that we should expect the next Titanfall game this holiday.”

As for the much anticipated Andromeda? “We have Mass Effect, which is our sci-fi action game, in our fourth quarter,” Jorgensen stated. This is a finer point on timing than EA recently gave during its third quarter earnings call.

When Mass Effect: Andromeda was shown in trailer from at E3 2015, it featured an end-card pinning the game to holiday 2016. A slight delay keeps the game in EA’s fiscal year, possibly making it the marquee title for EA’s final push in fiscal year 2017.

We’ve reached out to EA for additional confirmation and clarification on Jorgensen’s statement. We’ll update when we receive a response.

[Source: Morgan Stanley (timestamp: 19 minutes)]

Our Take

A slight delay keeps the game in EA’s fiscal year and moves Mass Effect out of a crowded EA holiday lineup. March isn’t quite as competitive as the fall, and this gives BioWare more time to work and the publisher a clearer field to make Mass Effect: Andromeda an event.