It's been a long time since Mass Effect Andromeda made its 2017 debut, and the future of the series and the developer have only gotten murkier in the meantime. While the studio announced "Mass Effect will continue" in its 2020 teaser, it's going to be a while before that happens, even now that it's BioWare's main focus. Early in 2025 we got Electronic Arts' recent reassurance it would deliver the next game and make the studio "a more agile, focused studio that produces unforgettable RPGs" after layoffs.
There wasn't much concrete information on the next Mass Effect out there, even before that. From what we can tell, it doesn't seem to pick up from where Andromeda left off, though we'll see more familiar elements from the original trilogy since the teaser includes Liara and a buried N7 logo.
Here's what we know about Mass Effect 5.
Is there a release window for the new Mass Effect yet?
BioWare has yet to give a release window for its new Mass Effect game, but it's safe to say that it's still several years away. From what we can tell, the new project didn't really make it off the ground until sometime in 2019 and remains in pre-production.
Mass Effect 5 trailers
Watch the official teaser from The Game Awards 2020
That part where Liara digs the armor piece out of the dirt and reveals the N7 logo? That's good stuff. The teaser itself is light on details (it's only really meant to stir up excitement), but we've been able to glean interesting observations from space shots and figures in the background at the end of the video. More on that below.
Mass Effect 5 development details
EA lays off BioWare developers, including Mass Effect veterans
Following Dragon Age: The Veilguard's 2024 launch, EA revised its financial outlook for the fiscal year and third quarter to account for a drop in its projected revenue. According to EA, both Dragon Age and EA Sports FC 25 underperformed, stating Veilguard "engaged" 1.5 million players, which missed company expectations by nearly 50%.
A week later, BioWare general manager Gary McKay published a studio update announcing Mass Effect development was underway with a smaller team of series veterans, and that some staff would move on to other EA teams:
"Given this stage of development, we don’t require support from the full studio. We have incredible talent here at BioWare, and so we have worked diligently over the past few months to match many of our colleagues with other teams at EA that had open roles that were a strong fit."
That didn't really get across how deep EA's downsizing at BioWare went. In a statement to IGN, EA's rep didn't comment on layoff numbers specifically or even acknowledge them and again noted the studio's "full focus is Mass Effect." However, multiple employees stated on social media they were no longer with BioWare, including long-time Mass Effect talent.
It's a nasty clash with the picture of BioWare EA is painting. Days after the confusion around who was cut and who remained, several studio veterans confirmed they were laid off, not moved to teams elsewhere. There's a long list of talent cut who worked on Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Anthem, and Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Who are the series veterans still working on Mass Effect?
The studio update following BioWare's layoffs noted the next Mass Effect retained veteran leadership from the original trilogy, including Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, and Parrish Ley.
In 2019, BioWare project director Michael Gamble announced his return to Mass Effect following a Game Awards teaser in 2019. In an X thread, he outlined some of the original Mass Effect team that rejoined BioWare for the new game.
Dusty was one of the key people responsible for bringing the original Normandy to life. Dusty decided to rejoin BioWare to work on the next Mass Effect game. There are more like him. We've heard what Mass Effect means to you. https://t.co/8dfGPV17iSDecember 11, 2020
Parrish was the cinematic director for the Mass Effect Trilogy. Many of the amazing moments you had were crafted from him and the team. Parrish decided to rejoin BioWare to bring this vision of a new Mass Effect to life. https://t.co/DxsuCqlAuRDecember 11, 2020
Brenon is a veteran of 3 Mass Effect games. His ingenuity and work helps to bring amazing gameplay systems to the Mass Effect Universe.Brenon is one of many who want to bring you the game you deserve. As time goes on, you'll get to know more of us. https://t.co/1jp3BJPGoQDecember 11, 2020
Oh, and lets not forget Derek Watts. Original Art Director for Mass Effect. He's back too. Ready to rock.December 11, 2020
It was cool news at the time, but the emphasis on veteran talent was likely a response to the sudden departure of Casey Hudson from BioWare, who directed the first three Mass Effect games and was working on this new project.
A big-budget space opera like Mass Effect has never been the result of a single auteur, but Hudson has been the face of the series since its inception. His departure (along with BioWare's streak of poorly-received games with Andromeda and Anthem) had been a point of worry for many fans.
Mass Effect concept art from N7 Day 2019
We have so many ideas for things we want to do in #MassEffect, so much concept art that hasn't yet been brought to life, and so many stories yet to tell. #N7Day pic.twitter.com/gDXbYComCCNovember 7, 2019
On N7 Day 2019, a full year before he would leave the project, Casey Hudson tweeted out concept art for the next Mass Effect game. Following the December 2020 teaser, it's clear BioWare has a story in mind for the game, but in 2019 it sounds like the team was still kicking around ideas.
Mass Effect 5 story and setting
When is the next Mass Effect set?
Based on the teaser, we can make a pretty good guess. Fans have already begun to speculate that the two galaxies from the beginning of the teaser suggest that the next Mass Effect will be a sequel to Andromeda in addition to the Shepard trilogy. That, and the fact that Liara is front-and-center.
If true, the story likely wouldn't pick up where Andromeda left off, necessarily, but may bring back characters and locales. Either way, it seems like the game will have to pick a "canon" ending to Mass Effect 3 and roll with it.
Liara is back
As the teaser dropped during The Game Awards, we initially began speculating that the mystery Asari is indeed Liara, one of Commander Shepard's companions in the first three games (and the Shadow Broker, via a fantastic bit of Mass Effect 2 DLC). How did we know it was Liara? She's the only Asari seen in the series with eyebrows and freckles. Deep cut.
We only had to speculate briefly, because Liara's face model Jillian Murray confirmed on X that she'd be returning for the next Mass Effect game. Meanwhile, Liara's voice actor Ali Hillis said that Liara's return is news to her. No need to panic yet that Hillis is being replaced in the role: it's likely that the game is still much too early to be recording voice lines.
Fun fact: The Drell and Salarian silhouettes in the new artwork are just flipped versions of Thane and Mordin from the ME2 squad selection menu from r/masseffect
Who else is returning?
Since we're pretty sure the next Mass Effect will be some sort of follow-up to the original trilogy, it now makes more sense that the concept art shared back in November 2020 included character art seemingly ripped from the old games. As the post above by ggo665 points out, the silhouettes standing by the ship are recognizable portraits of Thane and Mordin from Mass Effect 2. The chap next to them also looks like Mass Effect Andromeda's Jaal.
That's particularly interesting considering Jaal is an Angara, a race only seen in Andromeda. This strengthens the game's connection to Andromeda and suggests the next Mass Effect will embrace that game's setting to some degree.
