After the exhausting effort that went into developing Mass Effect 2 it would be reasonable to expect the team was ready for a break. Not BioWare, or at least not Project Director Casey Hudson. Speaking to the press before showing off the game at a recent event in Edmonton Hudson said, "We're looking forward to it [Mass Effect 3] and it should be more fun for us."

This comment came after Hudson went into some detail about the challenges faced during development with perfecting the system for carrying over saves from the first game. Managing all the potential player choices and their outcomes took such a commitment to making it work that he said, "I'd be really surprised if anyone else tried to do it."

"Mass Effect 3," Hudson said, "will be easier because we don't have to worry about continuity into the next one." While no one ever expected the Mass Effect world to go away after the Shepard trilogy, it sounds like they're pretty dead set to wrap the current story arc up in the third game.

Mass Effect 2 hits PC and Xbox 360 on January 26, 2010. Specific platforms and a release date for Mass Effect 3 have yet to be announced, though the franchise's save data carry-over suggests PC and Xbox 360.