Mass Effect 3 has not even been released, but Bioware is already warning players to hold onto their saves after completing the game.

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea (to keep your ME3 saves)” said Associate Producer Mike Gamble to GamerZinest last week. “Obviously I can’t say anything, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea…”

Could this be the first hint that the Mass Effect series will carry on with a fourth installment after Commander Shepard’s tale is completed in the third entry?

More likely, Gamble could be referring to saves affecting future downloadable content for the game, especially given how much post-game content was available for Mass Effect 2.

Mass Effect 3 is scheduled to release March 6.

What do you think? Will there be a fourth Mass Effect or will player save data just be used in the game’s inevitable downloadable content?