A stylish new Mass Effect polo shirt has been gaining attention across the internet for apparently being sold on Bethesda's merchandise store. As fans know, the Mass Effect franchise has been developed by the EA-owned BioWare, the studio behind the Dragon Age series and Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, while Bethesda is the Microsoft subsidiary famous for Fallout and The Elder Scrolls.
Since both developers largely trade in Western-style RPGs, it could be possible for causal observers to get BioWare and Bethesda mixed up. Not to mention that both have been in the headlines lately, with BioWare releasing the Mass Effect Legendary Collection and teasing a brand-new Mass Effect title and Bethesda promoting its upcoming Starfield - a game that also deals with space travel like BioWare's interstellar trilogy. However, one wouldn’t think that an official merchandise outlet would get confused about its parent company’s franchises.
Earlier today, the Twitter account for the Official Bethesda Gear store inexplicably promoted a snazzy Mass Effect N7 Stripe Button Up shirt, confusing players due to Bethesda having virtually nothing to do with the Mass Effect franchise. The post in question was deleted in the hours since its first appearance only to show back up later, to the continued bewilderment of fans. One commentator on the repost explains that BioWare and Bethesda-based merchandise is all handled by the same external company, hence the possible confusion between the two developers. At the time of this writing, the post has been removed again, but the Bethesda-released advertisement for the Mass Effect N7 Stripe Button Up shirt and a few of the fan reactions to it can be seen in the images below:
Like any great gaming franchise, Mass Effect has had its fair share of supplementary merchandise over the years, with action figures, Funko Pops, and high-end statues of Liara and the rest of the rag-tag crew of the Normandy hitting online retailers since the days of Mass Effect 2. The same can be applied to Bethesda franchises like Fallout, with one standout instance being a Fallout 4-themed Nuka Cola Quantum drink that was released during the game’s launch in 2015.
The most likely reason that the Mass Effect shirt keeps popping up on Bethesda's online merch store instead of BioWare's is that, as the commentator mentioned above says, the marketing firm handling merchandise for both companies just keeps getting them mixed up. It's still funny though, just as the Mass Effect N7 Stripe Button Up shirt is a fashionable way for fans to show their support for Commander Shepard on Casual Friday, provided they understand that Bethesda isn’t the company behind it.
Source: Official Bethesda Gear (via Twitter)