Speaking to PressBoxPR, Nesmith, “I think they should probably try to make a more Bethesda-style game, to be honest. I think Mass Effect players are dying for an open-world science fiction game that has that kind of flavor to it. A big, open-world, content-heavy game? I think Mass Effect players would be going nuts for that. But I’m a former Bethesda guy, so I’m probably going to say that about a lot of things.”

For clarity’s sake, that was only one of the suggestions. Others included more modern gameplay, which Nesmith says “always felt dusty and old.”

“I would hope that they would try to just take their lore and make a modern game of it. One of the knocks on Mass Effect that I would have is that they always felt like they were a generation behind. I know, they had very cool characters, they had great stories, but the gameplay always felt dusty and old. It just wasn’t there. If they can take the things that they were so good at and do it in a more modern sense, I think that they’d have a fantastic game.”

There’s also, shock of shocks, Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios’ critically and commercially acclaimed role-playing game. “I think taking lessons from Baldur’s Gate 3 would fit Mass Effect really well. They already had that kind of style in their games, and Larian Studios had the advantage of having produced the Divinity and Divinity 2 games. They were able to use that engine for it.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Nesmith cited Baldur’s Gate 3 as worth studying. In the same interview, he felt that Bethesda could learn a thing or two about meaningful choices from it for the next Fallout.

As for the next Mass Effect, it will likely offer branching choices and companions with extensive storylines who could like you or hate your guts. After all, that was a staple of their older titles, including Dragon Age: Origins. How BioWare will innovate on this, however, while updating its gameplay for a more contemporary audience, is the real question.

We’ll be waiting a while to find out, but development is seemingly making progress. BioWare recently posted a job listing for a Production Director to act as a “high-impact leader” for the title. Head here to learn more.

“They’ll report to me, and it’s gonna be awesome,” he said on Twitter. The listing is for a Production Director and the company searching for someone with a “passion for the Mass Effect universe” to serve as a “high-impact leader” on the sequel. Over ten years of experience on multiple “large-scale” triple-A games, alongside “deep expertise in ARPG and RPG development”, is required, among other things.

“You will partner closely with creative leadership, studio teams, and internal and external partners to champion the game’s vision and ensure its execution at the highest quality bar.” Said position also involves bringing a “strong player-first mindset, deep knowledge of the competitive gaming landscape, and a commitment to building inspired teams through mentorship, collaboration, and best-in-class production practices.”

If that wasn’t enough, they’ll need to “continuously elevate both the game and the team, fostering a strong production culture while translating ambitious ideas into outstanding player experiences.” All in all, a pretty high-level position, and one that could point to active development beginning soon (if it hasn’t already).

It’s hard to believe, but the first concept art and teaser for the next Mass Effect debuted in 2020. Since then, BioWare has released new concept art and even a look at what could be the new protagonist. Following the most recent N7 Day, it hid some artwork of a Krogan civil war for players to discover.

Even if production is beginning to ramp up, it may be a while before we see the sequel. Rumors from 2023 indicate it won’t be out until 2028 or 2029, and given that this is BioWare, which has had its share of development troubles, plans could change. Time will tell, so stay tuned for further updates.

Mass Effect 1 – Mako Segments

Mass Effect’s first outing laid the foundation for what would end up becoming one of the most beloved sci-fi RPG trilogies of all time, but even those who swear by the franchise will tell you that the Mako segments are easily the game’s most off-putting mandatory sections. On paper, cruising across alien planets in a six-wheeled all-terrain tank sounds like a thrilling opportunity to explore strange landscapes and uncover hidden secrets. But in execution, the driving experience turns into a bumpy nightmare in the face of weird controls and awkward handling. The Mako handles like a bouncy toy through and through, ricocheting off the slightest hill and sliding around at every slope. It also doesn’t help that most planets you explore are barren with little variety between them and the enemy encounters presnet within. And when mission objectives force you into these segments repeatedly, it becomes painfully clear they were more ambitious than polished. They can break the narrative flow, drag the pacing down, and leave anyone dreading the next time the game says, “Time to deploy the Mako.”

However, it seems that’s only the tip of the iceberg, as executive producer and project director Mike Gamble tweeted, “Everything you’ve seen – from all N7 days – will connect.”

Some of these include footage of a mysterious mass relay and the reveal of what could be the new protagonist. The latter was seemingly in-engine and featured various species, including Mass Effect: Andromeda’s Angara. How will all this possibly connect? We’ll have to wait to find out, but with rumors claiming it won’t launch until 2029, it could be a while.

What we do know is that Mass Effect 5 or whatever it ends up called will have photorealistic visuals and maintain the original trilogy’s more “mature tone.”

The link to this image, which you can check out here, was hidden in the post with a series of letters that had been italicised. When put together, these letters spelled out “URL KROGAN”. The official social media account for Mass Effect provided a further clue by posting “https://www.masseffect[dot]com/[ERROR A20N7S12]”. This URL was eventually discovered to have been a replacement cipher, where each letter stands for an individual letter. For example, the letter N is substituted with the number 7. The clue led fans to discover the number “411826207”, which when entered into the URL provided by BioWare, leads to the download page for the Korgan Civil War art piece.

While fans have been busy with figuring this puzzle out over the weekend, Gamble himself also took to social media to talk about the fact that the studio is still working on the Mass Effect project. He noted that, while some might be disappointed at the lack of progress revealed in the N7 Day post, he said that BioWare simply wasn’t ready to reveal too much for now.

“For everyone yelling at me because we didn’t use N7 Day to provide a whole bunch of info,” wrote Gamble. “I mean, I get it. I’m a fan too. I want you to see stuff. But it’s not the time… yet. Has it been years since announce? Yes. Have we been busy? Yes. Are we NOW 100% on Mass Effect? Also yes.”

In the N7 Day post itself, Gamble wrote about how busy BioWare had been in recent times after having wrapped up work on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, as well as EA announcing its plans to go private. While all of this might be happening around the studio, Gamble noted that the team was “focused exclusively on Mass Effect,” and that “we have a lot of universe to cover, lots of features to build, and lots of romances to figure out.”

“We’re excited by what we’re building, and we promise you: when we’re ready, it’ll be a lot of fun to show,” wrote Gamble. “Until then, thank you for your patience because y’all are thirsty for news and I see you looking for secret meaning in my tweets (okay, sometimes they have secret meaning).”

A new game in the Mass Effect franchise was confirmed to be in early stages of development back in January. In the meantime, BioWare has also been restructuring itself, with the studio now opting to focus on single projects rather than working on multiple games at the same time.

Noting that the last few years were an “incredibly busy time at BioWare” (which released Dragon Age: The Veilguard last year), Gamble said the team is currently “heads-down and focused exclusively on Mass Effect. We have a lot of universe to cover, lots of features to build, and lots of romances to figure out.

“We’re excited by what we’re building, and we promise you: when we’re ready, it’ll be a lot of fun to show. Until then, thank you for your patience because y’all are thirsty for news and I see you looking for secret meaning in my tweets (okay, sometimes they have secret meaning).”

He also talked about the upcoming TV series which it’s partnering with Amazon on. Gamble says the writers’ room has “a lot figured out” about its place in the overall canon, especially “where it sits in respect to the new game.” However, don’t expect it to focus on Commander Shepard – it’s a “brand-new story” taking place after the original trilogy in the same timeline.

Gamble signed off with the disclaimer that there’s “no secret game information to be gleaned by anything I’m saying today, I promise.” What an odd thing to say.

Regardless, development on the next Mass Effect has certainly been proceeding at a snail’s pace. With BioWare restructured and focused on the project, however, perhaps we may see more progress in the coming months or years. Whatever happens, hopefully Jennifer Hale, the voice of Fem Shep, returns in some capacity.

If anything is reassuring about the franchise, it’s that Jennifer Hale, who voiced Commander Shepard in the original trilogy, is willing to return. Speaking to IGN, the actor even clarified that it didn’t have to be the character she made famous.

“Anyone. I love that universe. I’m ready. Anytime. Krogan? Salarian? Turian? The possibilities are endless.” BioWare hasn’t contacted Hale about returning for the next game (and if it did, she would “be there before they finish the sentence”), although she has asked fans to express their desire for the same.

Regardless of her inclusion, it may be a while before the next Mass Effect launches. It was confirmed to be in pre-production as of February 2024, with rumors claiming it wouldn’t launch until 2029. Project director Michael Gamble confirmed that it would have a photorealistic art style and “maintain the mature tone” of the original trilogy, but that’s about it.

“Obviously one that comes up all the time is Mass Effect,” said King when asked about the projects that inspired Archetype Entertainment to make Exodus. “We obviously share some DNA. The epic space opera, the mega choices that carry over from game to game. Combat, we have a lot of stuff come up. Mass Effect, Horizon is probably another one we’ve drawn some inspiration from.”

While the Mass Effect inspiration might seem like a no-brainer for those aware of the development team behind Exodus and having seen its trailers, Horizon getting a shout-out might be more interesting. Robertson explained that Guerrilla Games’ Horizon series helped the studio figure out how to make elemental damage work in combat, as well as how to force players to make decisions about the things they are fighting.

“With Horizon, it’s that elemental aspect of combat, where you’ve got to make decisions based on the construction of the things that you’re fighting, and be smart about the tools that you use against it,” he explained. “There’s some cool things that we think we’ve pulled in from that.”

Interestingly, King also gives a shout out to seminal first-person metroidvania title Metroid Prime, noting that its focus on exploration helped the studio in how it structured out the worlds that players will get to explore in Exodus. “One of the things that really resonates is just like the exploration, hopping on a spaceship, kind of being out in the middle of nowhere. I kind of like the loneliness in that game. It just makes the environments really interesting.”

Exodus is being developed for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and is slated for release some time in 2026. The release window had been confirmed thanks to Archetype Entertainment’s parent company Hasbro making a note of it in its quarterly earnings report back in February. In the report, CEO Chris Cocks also said that Exodus will be the start of Hasbro’s push into self-publishing games.

“We have been investing in video games for over seven years through our portfolio of over a dozen projects in various stages of development coupled with 100+ licensing partnerships,” said Cocks. “I’m excited to show off our first project, Exodus, to the world when we launch it in 2026.”

In the meantime, check out details about one of the alien species that players will encounter during their time in Exodus – the Arkavir. In the game’s story, the Arkavir were designed to be the primary workforce for the Celestials in the Centauri Cluster while also being able to handle harsh and hostile environments. The Arkavir can also change up their physical form in order to make themselves more suited for specific harsh environments, from intense heat and unfathomable cold, to flesh-melting acid rain.

Yet there were a few relative unknowns that none of us saw coming, which were both visually striking and full of potential, least of all from Owlcat Games. You’ve probably heard of them from Pathfinder: Kingmaker – two relatively acclaimed computer RPGs. Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader is their latest title, and while it’s returning to the 40K universe with another RPG entry, it revealed something completely different at the Future Games Show: Osiris Reborn.

More specifically, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn. It’s based on Alcon Entertainment’s critically acclaimed television series, itself based on the acclaimed novels by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. The reveal trailer saw a frigate, the Gemini, venturing through an asteroid belt on a rescue mission for someone who “stuck their neck” out for this crew.

It has that cliched line about a man with a hammer and nails, but there’s a gusto about engaging in this mission. “Time to say oh ye with our hammer,” as the frigate barrel rolls into the asteroid, firing all the way. From there, it’s a traipse through this space station, battling enemies in zero gravity and employing drones and shields in a tight situation before eventually reaching their quarry. The problem is they’re infected by some mysterious substance perpetuating throughout the room.

Talk is cheap, of course, and that’s doubly so for cinematic trailers. Owlcat Games also provided some pre-alpha gameplay at the tail-end of the player walking around in space complexes and seedy markets. It then cut to some action and cover movement, alongside a gunship tearing apart enemies from the outside. The Mass Effect comparisons are fairly strong, but you’re not a Specter who goes on to become a legend.

Instead, you play as a mercenary for Pinkwater Security. As GamesRadar notes, you’re involved in a mission on the space station Eros (the asteroid in question), but things suddenly turn bad when the Protomolecule (the blue substance) infects everything and everyone. Your job is to escape, and that’s how the game begins. However, the ramifications of the infestation are felt throughout, given the event’s significance in its source material.

Space exploration has advanced significantly, allowing humanity to build colonies on Earth, Mars or the Belt, an asteroid belt located near Mars and Jupiter. To say they’re on bad terms would be an understatement – humans born in the Belt, known as Belters, though some resistance is building due to the Outer Planets Alliance. While the Protomolecule is doubtless a major part of the story, your crew is caught in a “system-wide conspiracy” and, to put it kindly “everything around you begins to fall apart.”

While there isn’t too much about the challenges that your crew will face, The Expanse’s setting is pretty intricate, with all kinds of conflicts and notable events. You can choose from the three main planets – Mars, Earth and the Belt – for your origin, and recruit companions to your cause. Two allies can join on a single mission with different abilities that you have command over, but even cooler is that the rest of the crew provides other assistance. Hacking systems is one example, and the gunship seen in the trailer is another.

Everyone is packed together in the Frigate, and your decisions will determine not only how these relationships pan out but also have long-term consequences on the story. This extends even to the NPCs encountered on planets as you learn their secrets and either manipulate or uncover new routes forward.

As stated earlier, however, talk is cheap. The Expanse as a setting is exciting, no doubt, and the initial set-up has the potential for a great story, but we need to see more of, well, everything before passing any judgment. However, one thing is relatively certain: Osiris Reborn could very well fill the Mass Effect-shaped void that’s existed since the original trilogy ended.

It has all the ingredients in place – and some new ones that could evolve encounters beyond the third-person cover-based shooting seen in BioWare’s series. More importantly, it’s Owlcat Games at the helm who have proven their skills time and again. The Pathfinder series offers some of the most in-depth character-building, which is almost as overwhelming as it is enticing. While it’s not going to bring that same ruleset over (because it doesn’t own it), you can bet that the progression and classes will be distinct and offer unique abilities.

It’s known for delivering some incredible companions alongside top-tier writing where your decisions matter. Granted, a third-person action RPG is new ground for the studio, and its releases are known to suffer from extensive bugs. Nevertheless, all its titles have received extensive post-launch support and patches to smoothen things out and even add new features.

On top of all this is the fact that we may not see a new Mass Effect any time this decade. BioWare has been in shambles ever since releasing Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and even much before that, with Mass Effect Andromeda and Anthem. The Mass Effect team is still relatively small – announced as being in the “early stages” of development back in November 2020, it hadn’t scaled into full production as of January 2025. The studio has since been restructured, but at this point, your guess is as good as ours on when the next Mass Effect could launch. And after everything that the studio has put out over the years – with Electronic Arts also doing its part to royally screw over the teams – it’s a miracle if it turns out good.

There are still many unknowns at this point about The Expanse: Osiris Reborn and more than a fair bit of expectations. The quality of combat, the companions, the settings and levels that players will explore, how the story pans out, the extent of one’s choices – even the voice acting is something that could make or break the game. In this era of high-quality role-playing games, it’s not easy to create a sci-fi action RPG, much less one based on an established property.

However, there’s a growing desire among role-playing games for the same, especially one that offers memorable companions and squad-based gameplay a la Mass Effect. Presenting a unique spin will also be important. The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is still holding its cards close, but if it can capture a hint of the magic that the original Mass Effect had to offer, it could very well mean a brave new era for similar titles. When we’ll see more is a different question entirely, but the fact that it’s not in the realm of improbability is already a lesson that BioWare and EA could learn from.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Responding to a post that said “Mass Effect 5 better stick to tradition and have an excessive amount of lens flair,” Gamble simply responded with an “okay” emoji. While this is far from confirmation that there will be a lot of lens flare in the new Mass Effect, the fact that Gamble has responded positively and playfully does indicate that development on the game might be going smoothly.

It is worth noting, however, that as of reports from earlier this year, the new Mass Effect title hadn’t yet entered full production yet. While quite a bit of time has passed since the initial reports from back in January, at the time, former BioWare producer Mark Darrah indicated in a video that the game was still in its early stages of development.

According to Darrah, this was because the studio was still busy at the time with post-launch support for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. BioWare has been turned into essentially a single-game studio, which means that there aren’t multiple projects being worked on simultaneously.

What we do know about the development of the next Mass Effect game is that it is being made using Unreal Engine 5. The reveal came about as a result of the studio advertising that it was hiring more developers all the way back in 2021. At the time, the job listings indicated that BioWare was looking for programmers that had experience with working on Unreal Engine 4 and 5.

If rumours are to be believed, the switch from the in-house Frostbite engine to Unreal Engine was made because BioWare had faced quite a bit of trouble with DICE’s engine during its time developing Anthem and Mass Effect Andromeda.

Back in January, BioWare general manager Gary McKay had revealed through a blog post that development on the new Mass Effect game was being handled by developers that had previously also worked on the original Mass Effect trilogy. The team, according to McKay, includes Gamble, along with Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, and Parrish Ley. McKay also spoke about changing how things work at BioWare.

“In keeping with our fierce commitment to innovating during the development and delivery of Mass Effect, we have challenged ourselves to think deeply about delivering the best experience to our fans,” wrote McKay. “We are taking this opportunity between full development cycles to reimagine how we work at BioWare.”

“Given this stage of development, we don’t require support from the full studio. We have incredible talent here at BioWare, and so we have worked diligently over the past few months to match many of our colleagues with other teams at EA that had open roles that were a strong fit.”

The next Mass Effect doesn’t yet have a release date or even an official title. The game is likely coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.