Mass Effect: Andromeda Features SpaceX Easter Egg
By Anthony Taormina 15 March 2017
While fans still have a few days to wait until the release of Mass Effect: Andromeda, EA Access members are already diving into BioWare’s highly anticipated sequel. Some are checking out the multiplayer, which is a riff on the mode offered in ME3, while others are seeing what fun secrets are hidden in the single player campaign. And if one of the more recent discoveries is any indication, Mass Effect: Andromeda may be packed full of neat Easter Eggs.
The most recent of those Mass Effect Easter Eggs found is a reference to SpaceX, the privately funded company that seeks to expand the idea of space exploration. The company even has a goal of colonizing Mars, which may be why it is referenced in the Mass Effect: Andromeda story.
As players explore the Tempest, the new ship introduced in Andromeda, they will find plenty of things to interact with, including a model of a 21st Century spaceship. Although the game doesn’t outright say it, the ship looks a lot like the Falcon Heavy, one of SpaceX’s upcoming launch vehicles.
Even if the model isn’t of the Falcon Heavy, the game certainly draws a connection between it and SpaceX. The Codex entry for the model reads:
After the historic NASA Apollo moon landings in 1969, the drive for crewed space exploration slowed as government funding dried up. The move towards cheaper unmanned probes and orbital stations gained traction instead, as one of the central obstacles was the expense of creating first-stage booster rockets that would be lost after each flight.
But the lure of sending people into the cosmos never lost its draw. In the early 21st century, a private company called SpaceX pioneered efforts in sustainable space travel by developing a reusable launch system. It revolutionized the field as the first entity, government or private, to successfully launch and then safely recover an orbital booster rocket intact, allowing it to be reused in future launches. Reusable hardware placed lower-cost, sustainable space travel within reach.
Galvanized by SpaceX’s achievements, a renaissance in space exploration followed. Reusable launch system technology later became pivotal in establishing the European Space Agency’s first permanent settlement on Mars, Lowell City, in 2103.
Considering that the Andromeda Initiative in Mass Effect is a mission meant to find humanity a new Earth-like planet to live on, it makes sense that the game would reference SpaceX and its own colonization efforts. Obviously, the SpaceX goal of visiting Mars and Andromeda’s exploration of a completely new galaxy are not one in the same, but the parallels are certainly there.
It’s a small little detail in Mass Effect: Andromeda, but one that will likely inspire players to go exploring all over the Tempest in search of more Easter Eggs and references to 21st Century technology. It makes sense that BioWare would want to put those references in there, as the company has always been known for fun Easter Eggs. Sometimes the developer even includes Easter Eggs for its other games (or even future games) in current projects, like the Krogan head in Dragon Age: Inquisition.
No doubt the hype is building for Mass Effect: Andromeda, and those who can’t stand the wait can even get it on the action right now. EA Access has gone live for Mass Effect: Andromeda, offering a short teaser of the single player campaign and less restricted access to its multiplayer.
Mass Effect: Andromeda releases March 21, 2017 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
