The currently in-development 'Mass Effect 4' is progressing well, with Bioware producer Michael Gamble revealing that the game has just finished an important developmental milestone. As shared in a series of tweets at his personal account, Gamble explained that the milestones allow the developers to play through a majority of the game and make adjustments as necessary.

Gamble did not elaborate further on the specifics of the milestone itself, but playfully stated that, "It's almost like we are building a real game or something."

In related news, Senior Development Director Chris Wynn provided his own update on the game when he shared via a tweet that the combat system is looking good. Wynn explained that the powerful hardware combined with biotics and weapons have coalesced into an impressive looking game. The developers have long maintained that they are pushing the boundaries of the current crop of next generation hardware, with a goal of putting out as impressive looking a game as possible.

With that in mind, Wynn added that 'Mass Effect 4' will only be released on next generation consoles such as the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the PC, and not on portable devices such as the PS Vita.

Despite the updates, 'Mass Effect 4' is likely more than a year away from release. The game was first announced back in 2012 and the current projection is for the game to be released sometime next year. As with all games, unforeseen delays can potentially push back the project, but the encouraging updates provided by the developers in recent times should be reassuring for fans of the series.

Whatever the case, Bioware is hard at work with the next installment of the franchise particularly since the upcoming game will have a separate storyline from the first three games in the series. The developers have also indicated that the game might not be titled 'Mass Effect 4', in an effort to differentiate itself from the original trilogy.