Bioware fans have been waiting quite some time to return to
Mass Effect
, the studio’s stalwart sci-fi franchise. After 2012’s Mass Effect closed out Commander Shepard’s story on a polarizing note and 2017’s Mass Effect Andromeda disappointed, the franchise has remained dormant. We know a new Mass Effect is in development, but we don’t know much about the game yet.
Mass Effect 5 was quietly announced in 2020 with some concept art before a formal reveal at The Game Awards 2020, and we’ve only received snippets of information and short teasers since. The initial teaser revealed that at least one familiar face from the Normandy will be returning, and there’s speculation Shepard themself could make an appearance.
Bioware hasn’t formally named the next Mass Effect game yet. For the purposes of this article, we’ll refer to it as Mass Effect 5, being the fifth game after the original trilogy and Andromeda, though that’s unlikely to be the official title.
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Development status
Bioware is fully locked in on Mass Effect 5
Source: EA
Bioware’s other flagship franchise is Dragon Age, which just released its fourth entry, The Veilguard, in October 2024. Now that The Veilguard is out, Bioware has no plans for any DLC and, according to a Rolling Stone feature, “the developers’ full attention has now shifted entirely to the next Mass Effect as their current project.”
While Mass Effect 5 being Bioware’s sole focus is certainly a positive for fans, we still don’t know what stage of development it is in. On N7 Day 2022, Bioware wrote in a blog post that “pre-production development has been proceeding very well” and shared artwork of what looks like some sort of space station–or perhaps even a rebuilt Mass Relay. The studio has been understandably quiet since as to how far along Mass Effect 5 is. N7 Day 2023 shared a brief teaser of a character in an N7-adorned long coat, while 2024’s N7 day was more focused on collaboration DLC with Dragon Age and No Man’s Sky. A television series on Amazon was officially announced as being in development at the same time, so N7 Day 2024 wasn’t completely without exciting updates.
N7 Day is an annual celebration of all things Mass Effect on November 7th. It takes its name from the N7 special forces designation from the games and is often when Bioware drops new information about the series, crossovers, and merchandise.
Mass Effect 5’s Developer
Who at Bioware is building the new game?
Mass Effect 5 is in development by Bioware, the studio behind the original trilogy and Andromeda. Of course, it’s been years since those games and the studio has undergone turnover with its staff. The N7 Day 2022 blog post mentioned the Mass Effect 5 team is composed of “franchise veterans as well as some amazing new additions to BioWare.”
Michael Gamble has been working on the franchise since 2010 and is leading the next Mass Effect as Executive Producer (previously Project DIrector, according to his LinkedIn page). Principal Narrative Designer and Mass Effect veteran Dusty Everman returned to Bioware to work on Mass Effect 5 after a few years away from the studio, with Gamble writing on X,
“Dusty was one of the key people responsible for bringing the original Normandy to life.”
Creative Director Parrish Ley returned as well, and Gamble welcomed him on X by saying, “Parrish was the cinematic director for the Mass Effect Trilogy. Many of the amazing moments you had were crafted from him and the team.” Mass Effect art director Derek Watts and veteran Bioware producer Brenon Holmes are also back working on the new game.
Source: EA
Just as notable are the Bioware developers not returning for Mass Effect 5. Drew Karpyshyn, writer on the first two games, and Marc Walters, writer for Mass Effect and lead writer on its sequels, have both left Bioware to pursue work elsewhere. Director of the original trilogy Casey Hudson left Bioware in 2020 to create his own studio, Humanoid Origin, which shuttered in 2024. Recently, after Dragon Age: The Veilguard launched, EA downsized Bioware, moving some employees to other studios and letting others go, including original trilogy writer Trick Weekes and editor Karin Weekes.
Liara will be back
The only returning character confirmed for the new entry
Source: EA
The 2020 teaser for Mass Effect 5 formally announced the series’ return. It includes snippets of audio transmissions and images of a defunct Mass Relay before following a shuttle heading toward an unidentified snowy planet. A character trudges uphill with what appears to be the remains of a Reaper in the background before finding a scrap of N7 armor. Fans will recognize the face that appears on screen next: researcher-turned-Shadow-Broker Liara T’Soni (those freckles are unmistakable).
Liara’s one of the original Normandy squadmates and was a romance option for Shepard throughout all three games (after the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC released for Mass Effect 2). The setting for this teaser and the appearance of an OG squadmate certainly hint that the next Mass Effect could be a direct sequel to Mass Effect 3 set shortly after its ending, but that might not necessarily be the case. In the Mass Effect universe, Asari like Liara can live for hundreds of years (Liara is 106 when you meet her in Mass Effect), so this teaser could take place centuries after the original games.
If Mass Effect 5 is an immediate continuation of the original trilogy, we could see familiar faces like Garrus, Tali, and James appearing in some sort of role. Even if the game takes place hundreds of years in the future, at least one other squadmate could join Liara–Krogan can live for well over 1,000 years, meaning Urdnot Wrex could possibly join. Though this still leaves the question–what about your Commander Shepard?
Will Shepard return?
You may not have seen the last of the original trilogy’s hero
Spoilers for Mass Effect 3’s endings follow.
Continuing the series would force Bioware to make one of Mass Effect 3’s endings–Synthesis, Control, and Destroy–canon. Each ending leads to a heroic end for Shepard. During the Synthesis ending, Shepard sacrifices themself to create a new form of life in the galaxy. Control will lead to Shepard’s body disintegrating as their consciousness becomes an AI that controls the Reapers, using them to help rebuild the galaxy. And in Destroy, Shepard sets off an explosion that destroys the reapers as well as the commander themself. Or does it?
If the player’s Effective Military Strength (gained by recruiting allies and completing quests) is high enough, a short scene is added to the Destroy cutscene showing a beaten Commander Shepard in a pile of rubble taking a deep breath. Because of the potentially dead Reaper shown in the first Mass Effect 5 teaser, fans speculate the Destroy ending will be made canon, meaning it’s possible Shepard survived and is awaiting rescue in all that rubble.
This theory gained momentum in 2022 when Bioware released an art print of concept art revealed on N7 Day 2021. Before being quickly changed, the product description read, “While Shepard and the survivors are left to pick up the pieces, fans are left wondering what’s next” (via Video Games Chronicle). Michael Gamble called it a mistake written by people who “aren’t familiar with the game.” While that could be true, it’s also a believable cover story to protect plot details of the future game. So far, there’s been no official word on if Shepard will return or not, but, at this point, it wouldn’t be too shocking.
Back to Andromeda?
The black sheep of Mass Effect could be due for a comeback
The other big theory floating around is if –or how much– Mass Effect 5 will tie into Mass Effect Andromeda, the much-maligned fourth entry in the franchise. It follows a group of Milky Way explorers after they’ve traveled 600 years to reach and settle in the Andromeda Galaxy. While it may have disappointed, Mass Effect Andromeda is still rife with storytelling possibilities, which is why Bioware seems loath to abandon it altogether.
A teaser from N7 Day 2023 included text that read (via EA):
/////ANDROMEDA DISTRESS SIGNAL DETECTED
/////YEAR SENT: [REDACTED]
/////AUDIO TRANSCRIPT: ALTHOUGH THEY SHOULD KNOW BY NOW NOT TO UNDERESTIMATE HUMAN [REDACTED]
The transcript quote is from Liara, as Gamble confirmed on X in 2022 alongside some artwork of what looks like the Citadel. Gamble had previously teased Andromeda’s inclusion on X after the first teaser in 2020, writing it was “intentional” the teaser showed two galaxies.
It would be quite an odd marketing move to incorporate Andromeda in Mass Effect 5 teasers and then not actually include anything Andromeda-related in the new game, making it likely Mass Effect 5 is somehow a sequel to both the original trilogy and Mass Effect Andromeda. How that would work timeline-wise remains to be seen–especially if Mass Effect 5 is trying to bring back Shepard in the aftermath of the original trilogy. Still, it’ll be nice to see Andromeda get a second chance after the initial game disappointed in the new galaxy.
Mass Effect 5’s Release window and platforms
We’ll likely be waiting a while, folks
The next Mass Effect has been in various stages of development since at least 2020, when it was formally announced, though development conceivably could have begun even earlier. However, with game development timelines growing out of proportion–just look at Dragon Age The Veilguard’s near-decade-long development–we could potentially be years away from any substantial update about Mass Effect 5. As it stands now, there is no release window given for the next Mass Effect.
In turn, we don’t have any confirmed platforms for the next entry in the long-running franchise. If released this console generation, we could assume it’ll land on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Might we see Mass Effect make the jump to the Nintendo Switch 2? As Mass Effect publisher EA has partnered with Nintendo to bring third-party titles EA Sports FC and Madden to the Switch 2, it’s a possibility, though surely not guaranteed. There’s also the possibility Mass Effect 5 skips the current generation of consoles entirely and releases for whatever Sony and Microsoft have in store next.
We’re still awaiting concrete details about Mass Effect 5
No matter how far away Mass Effect 5 is, fans will be eagerly awaiting it with bated breath and scouring every frame of every teaser for any little bit of information. For the moment, we still don’t have a ton of set information about the next Mass Effect, but what we do know–about the return of Liara and the inclusion of Andromeda in some capacity–is enough to get the conspiracy theories flying. The next game hopefully drops sooner rather than later, but ask any fan and they’d surely trade a longer wait in return for a stronger game.
