3 years later, the original Mass Effect 5 reveal teaser could still be holding secrets to the series' future

What appears to be Liara appearing in the first teaser for the Next Mass Effect game — (Image credit: EA)

Since its 2020 reveal at the Game Awards, the still untitled Mass Effect 5 has been shrouded in mystery. The cryptic reveal teaser, showing a familiar character exploring a frozen wasteland, ended with the words, "Mass Effect will continue."

It's been almost three years since its initial reveal, and following N7 Day this week, we got another mystery teaser introducing a mysterious new character sporting a jacket with the familiar N7 logo on it. Fans immediately went on to speculate about the new video. However, Michael Gamble, the new Mass Effect's current director, told fans that a lot of work went into the original teaser from 2020 and suggested that not all of it had been decoded quite yet.

It appears there are still secrets left unanswered from 2020 teaser trailer! https://t.co/dQ7LUgZD1uNovember 7, 2023

This cryptic message from Gamble was posted on N7 Day, which is BioWare's fan celebration for all things Mass Effect. Gamble's tease came in response to another user who was trying to decipher the muffled voices in the initial teaser. Even though the teaser was posted years ago and has been thoroughly combed over, it seems it still holds mysteries as to the fate of the storied franchise.

What sent fans over into full analysis mode is another cryptic message from Gamble on social media, which said: "Not everything is as it seems." This message came right after BioWare published a dev blog celebrating N7 day, which featured an extremely cryptic coded message at the end that included references to "Epsilon" (which means five in ancient Greek), and references to Andromeda as well.

With new details about Mass Effect 5 being brought into the light, it's again put attention on the first teaser. The next Mass Effect game will follow the original trilogy, which closed out the storyline of Commander Shepard and the Reaper threat. However, Mass Effect 5 looks to continue within the Sol system after the events of Mass Effect 3, or at least have direct references to what occurred in the original trilogy.

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The next Mass Effect game is still a long time out due to production delays internally at BioWare, not to mention a recent round of layoffs that may or may not be affecting its development in pre-production. The next game on deck for BioWare is Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, which is also set to be a new beginning for the series.

Figuring out what the N7 Day 2023 teaser means for Mass Effect 5 is sending GR's Heather Wald into fan theory overdrive.

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Alessandro is a freelance writer and editor based in the San Francisco Bay Area who has covered the games, tech, and entertainment industries for more than 13 years. Having previously worked at GameSpot, CNET, and various other outlets writing features and coordinating event coverage, Alessandro enjoys playing games on PC, but also gives plenty of time to his Nintendo Switch. You can find him on various socials at @afillari.