It seems like fans of the highly-anticipated "Mass Effect" series will need to wait a bit more than expected, as game publisher Electronic Arts recently announced that BioWare's upcoming title "Mass Effect: Andromeda" will now be released in the fourth quarter of the company's fiscal year.

If the information announced by EA is indeed accurate, the release date for the latest "Mass Effect" installment would be quite delayed, especially since a reveal trailer that was previously released stated that the game's release date was set for "Holiday 2016."

Considering that EA referred to the game's release happening in the Q4 of the company's fiscal year, "Mass Effect: Andromeda" might finally be released to an eagerly awaiting public during the first few months of 2017.

"We have all our sports games, we have Mirror's Edge, a runner game coming out in the first quarter, and then we have Mass Effect, which is a sci-fi action game, in our fourth quarter. So big year ahead and we're pretty excited," and EA executive stated during a recent interview.

It has to be noted, however, that EA's announcement does align with its statement last January that "Mass Effect: Andromeda" would see a 2017 release. The game's developer, BioWare, has been very silent about the matter, too, so much of current speculations are largely dependent on EA's statements.

"Mass Effect: Andromeda" has been creating a notable buzz ever since the game was announced at E3 back in 2014. As the next entry in BioWare's critically and commercially successful sci-fi saga, expectations are very high for the upcoming title.

"Mass Effect" debuted almost 10 years ago as an exclusive title for Microsoft's previous flagship console, the Xbox 360. Featuring strong gameplay elements, which included authentic RPG elements and the intense action of a third-person shooter, the game became a runaway hit. Due to the game's success, it was eventually ported to the PlayStation 3 and the PC, and the game's popularity only increased from there.

Two other "Mass Effect" titles eventually followed, "Mass Effect 2" in 2010 and "Mass Effect 3" in 2012, which saw a multi-platform release. Fans of the series, however, wanted more.

It has been years since the last "Mass Effect" title was released, and if BioWare is indeed coming up with a worthy sequel for the critically-acclaimed franchise, fans would probably not mind waiting a couple more months for "Mass Effect: Andromeda."