BioWare is in the process of realigning its Mass Effect franchise to appeal to a larger audience, according to EA boss John Riccitiello.

Speaking during an investor Q&A today, Riccitiello explained that Mass Effect 3 will boast greater mass appeal than its two predecessors.

"One of the things that Ray Muzyuka and the team up in Edmonton have done is essentially step-by-step adjust the gameplay mechanics and some of the features that you'll see at E3 to put this in a genre equivalent to shooter-meets-RPG," he said, "and essentially address a much larger market opportunity than Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 began to approach.

"We're huge believers in the IP and are purposefully shifting it to address a larger market opportunity."

As revealed earlier today, the much-anticipated sequel to last year's acclaimed sci-fi epic will now ship out in early 2012, rather than later this year as originally promised.