BioWare shared a cryptic image from the upcoming fourth game in the Mass Effect series.
On N7 Day, the annual celebration of the popular franchise, BioWare thanked the fans for their support and discussed the franchise's future. "Regardless of when you joined us, through four games and more expansions, I can say with certainty that we're in this because of you, and every N7 Day is a wonderful reminder of that," wrote project director Mike Gamble. "We love bringing this universe to life, and although there's much more we want to share with you, that'll have to be for another time. For now, there is something we want you to take a look at. We've intercepted some strange footage from one of the monitoring stations in known space. It could be nothing, but..."
The post concludes with a brief video showing an unfinished space station orbiting a planet, surrounded by starships, including one that resembles the series' main ship, the SSV Normandy. Several fans noted that Mass Effect's teaser video seemed to hold a coded message in its clicks, which led to several fan theories in the comments. The station resembles the mass relays, the advanced ancient technology that makes interstellar travel possible.
Mass Effect's New Game and TV Series
Mass Effect 5 was first announced at the 2020 Video Game Awards with a brief teaser highlighting the return of longtime squadmate Liara T'Soni. Since then, details on the sequel have been scarce, with one of the few concrete facts being that the game will run on the Unreal Engine of the original trilogy rather than the Frostbite engine of the controversial fourth entry in the series, Mass Effect: Andromeda. A poster for the game hinted at the return of the trilogy's protagonist, Commander Shepard, but Gamble dismissed this as a mistake on the part of the BioWare store.
In addition to a new game, franchise publisher Electronic Arts revealed it is developing a Mass Effect television series with Amazon Studios. While there haven't been many updates since the announcement in November 2021, the Mass Effect team members have expressed enthusiasm for the adaptation. Lead writer Drew Karpshyn offered to consult on the show, while Keith David said he hoped to reprise his role as Shepard's mentor, Captain David Anderson. However, David Gaider, lead writer on another BioWare RPG franchise in Dragon Age, expressed his concern that a potential Mass Effect show would be counterintuitive for a game series where exploration and customization are integral to the narrative.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition, a remaster of the original trilogy, is available on PlayStation 4, X-Box One and Microsoft Windows.
Source: BioWare