When Marie-Renée Brisebois, Studio Manager at BioWare Montreal, received word that a Mass Effect fan named Jackie was looking for help in proposing to her partner Amy, it was never a matter of if they could help and simply how. She quickly asembled a team made up of writer Ann Lemay, lead level designer, Colin Campbell, and QA analyst Barrett Rodych to craft a unique vehicle for Jackie’s proposal in the form of single level of Mass Effect.
The team was careful to craft an experience that would contain subtle little references to their relationship while trying not to give away the surprise. The couple was invited to visit the studio under the pretense that they had been the winners of a fake “A Day with the Devs” contest and would be able to play a portion of the next Mass Effect game. The development team anxiously watched Amy play through the level, pretending to take notes on her experience, as she worked her way through the level.
“Once she reached the end of the level, Amy walked into a room with a lone console in the center that had her and Jackie’s names for one another spray-painted on the wall in 50-foot high graffiti. When she clicked on the console, a message popped up: “Dear Amy, Jackie would like to ask you something.
Love,
All of us at BioWare”
Jackie then got down on one knee, took out a ring, and proposed.
Amy said yes.”
You can see the magical moment in the above image, and I’m sure you can feel the collective “awws” of the gaming community at what is possibly one of the best gamer proposals out there.
“There are only a few stories like that in history, and it’s awesome to be part of one of them.”
Colin Campbell remarked on the experience saying that “There aren’t many situations in videogame development where you get the chance to step back and do something like this for somebody else. I think videogames are powerful and an incredible form of art and entertainment and interaction, but they don’t often get two people married. There are only a few stories like that in history, and it’s awesome to be part of one of them.”
