Ian Frazier, BioWare's lead developer on the Mass Effect franchise, has expressed his enthusiasm for the possible return of the original game's weapon holstering feature for Mass Effect 4.

Frazier revealed that he was replaying the orignal trilogy for research:

The best part of working on the next #MassEffect is having an excuse to keep studying and replaying the trilogy for research. 🙂 — Ian S. Frazier (@tibermoon) February 9, 2014

And in response to a fan who expressed his views on what the next game should feature, Frazier said: "Weapon holstering? Interesting! You mean like ME1?" Mass Effect 3 players could not put away their weapon even outside of combat.

Meanwhile, designer Jos Hendricks, who's currently working on Dragon Age: Inquisition at BioWare Edmonton, reiterated his involvement with the next Mass Effect and the way in which the two BioWare teams are working together on their forthcoming games saying:

It's nice being in Montreal to meet in person with the people I'm working with on the next Mass Effect with. They're good people. — Jos HeN7driks (@Sjosz) February 12, 2014

In November, numerous BioWare developers tweeted concept art and images of Mass Effect 4 and executive producer Casey Hudson commented that, "We continue working hard to create amazing new Mass Effect experiences for you."

One change which has already been confirmed for Mass Effect 4 is that characters will have motion capture. Mass Effect 4, which does not currently have a confirmed title, release date, or launch platfroms announced, will appeal to both old fans and newcomers according to BioWare.

The game will not feature Commander Shepard, the hero or heroine of the original trilogy or the spectre's team. It's possible we'll get our first real look at Mass Effect 4 come E3 in June.