User blog comment:JakePT/Mass Effect 3 Revealed at Videogame Awards/@comment-1691295-20101209215546/@comment-2235714-20101209235607

It seems a little strange that Bioware would just stitch a MP into the trilogy at its climax. They've seemed pretty sensible about the franchise so far. I'm going with the more likely theory that this will be an Mass Effect spin-off title with MP capability.

Still, a little incentive can make even the most stalwart developers rethink their design principles. Especially when that incentive is several dump-truck loads of nice cashy money.