Earlier this week, the crushing news dropped that BioWare is shutting down after more than 30 years in business. We also learned that the next Mass Effect game, fondly referred to as ‘Mass Effect 5’, had been canceled after several years in development. It was later revealed by way of a leaked trailer that it would have been called Mass Effect Universe.
After that, a creator stepped forward to reveal they were part of a ‘Mass Effect Council’ assembled to guide BioWare through the creation of this ambitious new Mass Effect game. The creator, Dantics, revealed a slew of information about the game that might never see the light of day.
Mass Effect Universe
The end of BioWare could mean the end of Mass Effect, the legendary sci-fi franchise that debuted almost 20 years ago. It had a phenomenal run as a trilogy, but a nail in the coffin of sorts was hammered in when 2017’s Mass Effect: Andromeda hit the market and promptly bombed.
But from what we’ve learned about the ill-fated next game in the series, things would have been turning around.
It was to be called Mass Effect Universe, and according to a creator who worked alongside BioWare, it would have been something special. Universe would have been set 600 years after the Reaper War, almost exactly when Mass Effect: Andromeda was set, which presumably means links would have been established.
Per the creator, Dantics, you would have played as a customizable N7 agent akin to John Wick and James Bond. Shepard’s legacy, cemented in the final game of the trilogy, would be ‘preserved’, and players would explore a galaxy split into new factions long after the iconic commander’s passing.
It was to be focused more on a ‘shadowy adversary’ than an overwhelmingly dominating enemy like the Reaper armada, and it would have featured links between the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, which likely explains the title somewhat. Missions would have been semi-linear, new technology would have surfaced to facilitate the spycraft-style of gameplay, and ‘romance wasn’t being sanitized’, which sounds intriguing.
Dantics said:
From what I saw, BioWare was making Mass Effect for us, the fans, not for people who don’t exist. It looked incredible. And now we may never get to play it.
To respond to the shutdown of BioWare and the potential loss of Mass Effect, a petition was started on Change.org that had, at the time of writing, gathered almost 150,000 signatures. It’s all about saving Mass Effect, which some believe may be bought wholesale by a gaming titan.
Are you sad to see the potentially permanent loss of Mass Effect Universe? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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