Reports were claiming until as recently as less than a year ago that the next Mass Effect hadn’t yet entered full production. At the time, with Dragon Age: The Veilguard still in development, the information didn’t come as a surprise. Even with the fantasy action RPG’s launch now now a handful of months in the rearview mirror, however, it seems the next Mass Effect still hasn’t graduated to the next phase of production.
That’s as per former veteran BioWare producer Mark Darrah, who left the studio in 2021, but continued to work in a consultation role on Dragon Age: The Veilguard. In a recently uploaded YouTube video on his personal channel, Darrah has stated that the next Mass Effect still hasn’t entered full production.
Officially confirmed to be in development back in 2020, the sci-fi title is allegedly still not ready to move to the next phase of production yet. As a result, the majority of BioWare staff is seemingly being temporarily allocated to other projects across different EA studios, until Mass Effect has advanced enough to be able to accommodate more people.
As per Darrah, BioWare has shifted to operating strictly as a single-game studio, which means Mass Effect is going to be the only internal project receiving its attention for some time to come. Previously, BioWare also confirmed that it had no plans to develop DLC for Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
It’s worth reiterating, of course, that Darrah isn’t a current BioWare employee. He did spend over two decades at the studio, and also consulted on its most recent release, but he might not necessarily be fully aware on the exact inner workings of the studio.
Reports have claimed in the past though that the next Mass Effect might not launch until 2028 or even 2029, and this certainly tracks with that. Thankfully, a Mass Effect TV series is officially in the works at Amazon Prime, so series fans have something to look forward to.
