In the universe of Mass Effect: Andromeda, SpaceX is the granddaddy of interstellar travel and exoplanet exploration.
At least, that's what the Easter Egg in the game revealed. Mass Effect: Andromeda is an open-world space game whose main premise is simple: find Earth-like planets habitable for mankind, which mirrors SpaceX ambitions — that is, to send man to Mars in the eventuality of colonizing it. A lofty ambition maybe, but lofty enough to get a mention from developers BioWare.
Mass Effect: Andromeda has released several story and gameplay trailers as a prelude to its March 21 release. The game will be available for Windows, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
SpaceX Easter Egg
Publisher EA released Early Access on March 16 for players who wanted to get first dibs on the game, giving them 10 hours of gameplay. In the game, the players will be part of a Pathfinder team of the Andromeda Initiative, mankind's program tasked to travel to the Andromeda galaxy to find habitable planets. And true to the game's Pathfinder spirit, some gamers discovered a gem not out in the space but right inside the spaceship Tempest.
During a playthrough, a player discovered that when the main character steps inside the ship's private quarters, placed on one of the shelves is a model of a spaceship that is strikingly similar to Falcon Heavy, the SpaceX's spaceship designed "from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars." Falcon Heavy is due for takeoff this year and its usability feature is clearly designed for multiple space missions.
'Mass Effect: Andromeda' Recounts The Future Past
When the character interacts with the Falcon Heavy model, it brings up an entry in the game's Codex. And this is where the nod-and-wink to SpaceX as pioneers of space travels happens.
Mass Effect: Andromeda happens in the year 2185, some hundred years from now. The Codex described the historic 1969 Apollo moon landings by NASA and how after this the space program funding whittled down, as the multi-stage rockets proved expensive.
However in the early 21st century — today — a private company stepped up to develop a reusable launch system, which ignited mankind's dreams of space explorations once more. Yes, that company is SpaceX.
The Codex writes:
"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."
If the SpaceX program becomes successful, Mass Effect: Andromeda can say it predicted the future.
