'Mass Effect 3' Extended Cut landing June 26

The free download represents a compromise between the studio and the space opera's fan base, given the player unrest that followed the game's original set of endings.

Therefore, the Extended Cut does not recapitulate on Mass Effect 3's design, which takes account of previous player choices to determine how the series ends.

Rather, the substantial 1.9G download for Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3 is intended to "expand upon the events at the end of Mass Effect 3 through additional cinematic sequences and epilogue scenes" in order to provide "more of the answers and closure that players have been asking for."

Those players will need to retread the final steps leading up to Mass Effect 3's original ending in order to witness the Extended Cut material, with further details given on the game website itself.

Some had hoped that BioWare would heed fan feedback in the same way that Bethesda dealt with the unexpectedly abrupt ending to Fallout 3; that game's oversight was corrected via its third paid-for expansion, Broken Steel, which further integrated player choices made throughout the main story arc.

Official website: masseffect.com/about/extended_cut