It’s been over 12 years since Electronic Arts and Bioware released Mass Effect 3, ending a franchise that took gamers on a roller coaster ride of emotions, betrayals, and endorsements of their favorite shops in the citadels for half a decade.
Unfortunately, we’re not closer to the next Mass Effect. BioWare is still busy with Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. However, in a surprise update, Bioware Project Director confirmed that several veteran developers are returning to make Mass Effect 5 happen.
In a reply to a fan on X, Michael Gamble, a veteran of Mass Effect himself, confirmed that the Executive Producer, Art Director, Creative Director, and Game Director, “are all trilogy vets.”
EP, Art Director, Creative Director, Game Director are
all trilogy vets.— Michael Gamble (@GambleMike) March 23, 2024
So far, these are the names confirmed for Mass Effect 5‘s development team:
- Dusty Everman
- Parrish Ley
- Brenon Holmes
- Derek Watts
- Michael Gamble
The above names are presumably different from the three unnamed veteran developers serving as its Art Director, Creative Director, and Game Director (Michael Gamble is the Executive Producer).
While seeing the veterans that helped birth the initial Mass Effect trilogy work on the next entry is a positive, it isn’t a cause for celebration. Don’t forget that Mass Effect: Andromeda also had a similarly stacked roster. Its director was a writer on all three Mass Effect games, taking point in the second and third installments.
Time has been kind to Mass Effect: Andromeda but it remains the odd man out in the award-winning franchise, so doubters still have a reason for concern.
For what it’s worth, the signs we’ve seen so far regarding Mass Effect 5 imply that it isn’t going to relegate our favorite characters from the original trilogy into names that we’ll mention in passing in-game. The initial teasers, in particular, show that Liara T’Soni is still alive and well after all this time with many theorizing that the destruction of the original Mass Effect relays and Reapers implying that “destroy” is the canon ending to the story.
Then again, considering that the Asari can live for thousands of years – Liara herself is 106 years old at the start of Mass Effect – there’s telling if Mass Effect 5 will take place soon after Mass Effect 3 and/or Mass Effect: Andromeda or hundreds if not thousands of years later. This ambiguous timeline has kept fans hooked following the initial reveal, with multiple teases later teasing that somehow, the Geth are involved, and it will be connected to Mass Effect: Andromeda.
With Bioware dropping hints about Mass Effect 5 having become an annual occurrence every November 7 (more commonly known as “N7 Day” among fans), we’ll have to wait until much later this year for another update.
In the meantime, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is worth replaying several times over until Mass Effect 5 arrives.
