Ever since EA snapped up Bioware, everyone has been considering the possibility of Mass Effect coming to the PlayStation 3. After all, EA's only loyalty is to money, and they're always interested in catering to the largest possible audience.

Well, according to a "fairly reliable source close to Electronic Arts," as reported by SecondStoryGamer, the upcoming sequel and any new installments in the future will indeed be available on Sony's machine, in addition to the Xbox 360 and PC. Evidently - and not surprisingly - EA decided to make the jump to multiplatform due to "the economic outlook." In other words, due to the poor state of the economy, EA wants to make as much as they possibly can out of their current slate of titles, and allowing the critically acclaimed RPG franchise to come to the PS3 would certainly help. As for the original, the source claims it's "likely" that EA will release a port of Mass Effect at some point this year. While we can only classify this information as "rumor" for the time being, we can supposedly expect the official announcement to come at the Game Developer Conference in March. If it does happen, it's good news for all PS3 owners, as it gives them a high-profile RPG series, which is something the PS3's library desperately needs.

We'll keep our eyes peeled for more evidence concerning this breaking news, and if we're lucky, someone from EA might confirm it publicly before GDC 09. But at the very least, this news is quite encouraging.