Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut goes live

Many gamers were not at all pleased when they came to the end of Mass Effect 3, as the conclusion to the massively popular game trilogy saw all of the major characters pass into the ether.

Many fans of the franchise wanted a happy ending in which the indomitable Shepard and his friends went on to live long lives, but that’s clearly not what EA and BioWare had in mind for the franchise. And of course, players were also upset that the decisions made during gameplay turned out to have zero impact on the title’s outcome.

The backlash was so severe that BioWare promised an expanded ending would be rolled out to help wrap up some of the lingering questions about the Mass Effect universe.

That expanded ending is called Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut and as of today, it is available for download at no cost for Mass Effect 3 players on the Xbox 360, PC, and PS3.

“The Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut is a downloadable content pack that will expand upon the events at the end of Mass Effect 3,” the game’s website reads. “Through additional cinematic sequences and epilogue scenes, the Extended Cut will include deeper insight to Commander Shepard’s journey based on player choices during the war against the Reapers. The Extended Cut will be available to download at no additional charge on June 26th on Xbox 360 and PC and PlayStation 3.”

It’s worth noting that BioWare and EA never said the alternate ending would allow the characters to live. Rather, all the extended cut promises to do is better explain how the decisions Shepard made changed the galaxy forever.