Nogle vil måske se det som en form for anklage mod spilindustrien, at vi i dag ser nostalgisk tilbage på titler som Mass Effect: Andromeda og Assassin's Creed Unity, når man tænker på deres problematiske lanceringer. Andre mener dog, at vi dengang var alt for hårde mod store udgivelser, der ikke helt levede op til vores forventninger. Tom Taylorson, stemmeskuespilleren bag den mandlige version af Ryder i Mass Effect: Andromeda, troede, at han ville få et årti med den karakter, men modtagelsen på nettet betød, at den fremtid blev slettet på et øjeblik.
Taylorson forklarede i et interview med We Are Mass Effect:
"[It was] hands down one of the best things I've ever worked on. I had an immense amount of fun working on it, made good friends along the way, learned SO MUCH, and while the opportunities didn't always pan out, it did lead to many other opportunities for work down the line. Still one of my favorite things I've ever worked on in any medium. It was a special and challenging time in my life and I'm forever grateful to have Andromeda be a part of that."
Selvom han mindes arbejdet på Andromeda med glæde, efterlader modtagelsen ved lanceringen en mere bitter smag i Taylorsons mund: "
"It was done dirty by a publisher expecting too much from it, not being fully cooked, forced out the door too early, forced to use corporate's shiny new engine when many of the team didn't know how to work with it and it was NOT suited to the storytelling part of the game. On top of that, it was released to a VERY toxic atmosphere online and elsewhere in the gaming space. It quickly became punching bag of the week for online chuds for views and clicks. Their love of hate sealed the deal."
Taylorson afslørede derefter, at han også havde arbejdet på Highguard - et andet spil, han følte var dødsdømt fra starten på grund af online-had. Han sagde, at selvom beslutningen om ikke at fortsætte med Ryders historie var svær at acceptere, var han nødt til at komme hurtigt videre:
"It hurt most because I knew that was it - Ryder wouldn't be coming back. I, and others, thought we'd have a good decade of playing with these characters in these spaces. And just like that - Gone. Grateful to have made the connection for the audio book production house I worked with a lot, Blackstone Publishing, to the publishers of the physical tie-in books for Andromeda. That got me and Fryda the opportunity to work on those books and play a little bit more in that place we had so much fun in that was taken away from us," sagde han.
I dag, her i 2026, er Andromeda stadig et emne, der kan dele vandene. Mens spillet har fået en form for oprejsning og ofte fremhæves for seriens bedste kampsystem, står det også som et monument over, hvordan tekniske problemer og en benhård internetkultur kan afspore en hel franchise. Med de nyeste rygter om, at det næste Mass Effect (som angiveligt filmes som serie hos Amazon lige nu) måske vil bygge bro mellem Mælkevejen og Andromeda, er Ryders rejse måske alligevel ikke helt glemt.