It's been nearly a year and a half since Commander Shepard tackled the Reaper threat in the last Mass Effect game, and despite the controversial ending it has been quite clear that fans are yearning for more from the Mass Effect universe. The man behind that story's conclusion, Casey Hudson, returned during E3 2014 to narrate a small teaser video from BioWare, though the video ultimately revealed very little about Mass Effect 4.

Today, San Diego Comic-Con officially announced that there will be a full Mass Effect 4 panel featuring developers from both the Edmonton and Montreal studios. The panel will go over their process of shaping the next Mass Effect title, what it's like to continue from the open-ending from Mass Effect 3, and where the new game will take players whilst respecting the ramifications of the prior games.

The panel will be moderated by Nerdist.com, and will feature BioWare higher-ups like Carl Boulay (lead animator),  Fabrice Condominas (producer), Mike Gamble (producer), Noel Lukasewich (senior artist), and the ever-popular Jessica Merizan (community manager). All of these employees certainly have it within them to potentially show off some great screenshots, videos and teasers from the development of the game, so we have little doubt some exciting camcorder footage taken from the panel will reveal some interesting facts about the new Mass Effect title.

Hudson had previously stated that the Edmonton studio was working on a brand new IP, so it's interesting that members of that studio will be panelists regarding Mass Effect 4. Clearly, there's still much to be revealed regarding the BioWare's work and we're excited to delve into new sections of the galaxy. The studio already stated they wish to reveal details from the game in 2014, and Comic-Con will be their best chance to do so.

The E3 teaser video makes it seem like a prequel is out of the question, so it's likely that the Comic-Con Panel will reveal how BioWare plans to continue the story post-Shepard. It will be interesting to see which of the possible endings from Mass Effect 3 will be considered the canon ending, as each of the choices greatly effects the universe that the story is set in.

In terms of development, it's still early days yet - BioWare is still seeking input from fans from the series, indicating they're willing to change their development goals depending on player feedback. Based on the questions, it looks like BioWare is contemplating whether to give priority to RPG aspects or combat aspects of the game. Interested fans can go and fill out the survey here.

The Mass Effect 4 panel will take place on Saturday, July 26th at 2PM.

Follow John Jacques on Twitter @Makelevi.

Source: SDCC