Following N7 Day – typically celebrated on November 7th – the outpouring of support and celebration by fans of the Mass Effect franchise has led to more discussions about the series potentially coming back somehow. Game director on the original Mass Effect, Casey Hudson, even expressed hope about a “triumphant return” for the series.
“Doesn’t feel right to say ‘happy’ #N7Day this year, but I’m optimistic that Mass Effect will live on! When Mass Effect makes its triumphant return, it will be thanks to the outpouring of love from players around the world. Thank you for sharing what it means to you.”
Project lead on the now-canceled Mass Effect project, Michael Gamble, also took to social media to thank fans for their support of the sci-fi series. “You all are truly amazing. The love and passion for this…universe…is incredible. Even in worst days, we could always count on you. To all the stories left untold. Happy N7 Day.”
Former narrative designer at BioWare, Michael Tucker, took to social media to thank Mass Effect fans for their support, and said that the time he got to spend on the franchise has been “the chance of a lifetime”.
Composer of the original Mass Effect trilogy, Sam Hulick, got in on the action as well by revealing through a new blog post that he was in talks with BioWare about returning to compose for the project. While this ultimately didn’t pan out, Hulick decided to release a new track that could have potentially been made for Mass Effect Universe by adding it to the trailer that was leaked last month.
“I knew BioWare wanted to do something new with the music, and I wanted to be conscious about not just repeating the same formula used in the original trilogy. Fans really loved the ME1 end-credits song by Faunts, and I thought it would’ve been incredible to bring more songs with lyrics into the game. This would’ve been a great way to highlight more emotional moments in the narrative.”
Hulick even revealed that he was going to collaborate with other artists including The Midnight, NINA, and Gunship to bring in “a moody, cinematic synthwave vibe that would’ve meshed well with the score in my head.”
“Sadly, things never progressed far enough to develop any of these ideas. I was just starting to build a musical palette when I got word that EA was shutting down BioWare. A lot of game studios have shut down in recent years, but this one hit me particularly hard, as the Mass Effect trilogy is a core part of my origin story as a composer.”
Interestingly, Journey composer Austin Wintory had revealed that he was also in discussions with BioWare about potentially composing the music for the Mass Effect project. “This trilogy is my most cherished gaming experience of my lifetime and, as a professional composer, represented my most sought-after ‘White Whale’. For me, there is no greater dream project to be part of,” he said.
Recently, BioWare co-founder Trent Oster has said that bringing Mass Effect back would require an upfront investment of more than $200 million.
