The "Mass Effect" series, a military science fiction media franchise developed by Canadian video game developer BioWare and owned by American publisher Electronic Arts, features an extensive cast of characters. It is primarily based on a series of third-person role-playing shooter video games which currently consists of four mainline instalments and two spin-off mobile games. The first three "Mass Effect" games takes place in the Milky Way Galaxy during the 22nd century and revolves around a space navy soldier named Commander Shepard. The fourth "Mass Effect" game is set in the same universe as the original trilogy but in a different galaxy, Andromeda, and focuses on the Andromeda Initiative and the Ryder family. The spin-off games, "Mass Effect Galaxy" and "Mass Effect Infiltrator", feature different protagonists.