BioWare earlier today announced a new piece of merch for mass effect Propellers: Statue of Commander Shepard from the opening Mass Effect 2, where if you need a reminder, she was found dead and floating in space. The statue was accompanied by a slightly strange press release, and the combination of the two has led many fans to spend the day wondering if all is well at the BioWare Gear Store.
Released as part of a collection that also includes Kaidan, Thane, and The Illusive Man, the statue was described in a press release as a “conversation starter,” describing it as “the Death Statue from Mass Effect Shepard depicting the dramatic opening of Mass Effect 2 Scene: Evicting Commander Shepard.” From crumbling Normandy and darting through space to its sudden demise.
This is a weird thing to capture in a statue, and it’s even weirder when it’s positioned that way and you see the sculpture:
To be clear, no one angry In this. It’s just… weird! And many people thought that after a day of comments, BioWare decided to not only pull the press release announcing the statue, but to pull the statue itself from their online store as well. In a statement released this evening, BioWare said:
welcome,
Earlier today, we announced the sale of the latest Mass Effect Shepard statue. This statue was intended as part of a series commemorating some of the key and most emotional moments in the series. The way we announced it didn’t convey that properly, and it doesn’t give the moment in the series the credit it deserves.
As a result, we will be pausing sales of the statue until we can share the bigger plan with you.
Thanks,
BioWare Equipment Store
Thanks for joining me for this latest episode of “Funny Work Problems You Didn’t See Coming Until Today.”