Mass Effect 5 director gives props to Exodus, the new time-hopping sci-fi game from BioWare RPG veterans

Exodus was giving off some big Mass Effect vibes during its reveal at The Game Awards 2023, and in a full circle moment, the game now has the seal of approval from Mass Effect 5’s director. 

For the uninitiated, Exodus is the debut action-adventure game from Archetype Entertainment, a studio founded by industry veterans James Ohlen, Chad Robertson, and Chris King. Ohlen himself was a longtime designer at RPG factory BioWare - having worked on everything from Baldur’s Gate to Jade Empire - and that unique science fiction flavor was certainly intact for Exodus’ reveal.

The announcement seems to have at least gone over well with Michael Gamble, the project director on the next Mass Effect, who reposted the trailer on social media with “science fiction is amazing.”

One commenter then hoped for Mass Effect 5’s success, alongside successful projects from other BioWare veterans who have moved onto their own studios. “Exactly. As far as I can tell, the more - the better,” Gamble responded. No competition between the Mass Effects and Mass Effect-likes, then.

The announcement trailer - beautifully rendered by Blur Studios - sees our protagonist jump through Mass Relay lookalikes that mess with time à la Interstellar - essentially, the FTL travel network ages people differently and dilates time. Through all the space-time shenanigans, we were also treated to peeks at gameplay which includes frantic third-person combat, RPG progression, and according to the director, alien romance. There’s no release date yet for Exodus, but it’ll launch on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5 when it’s ready.

While we wait for more Exodus, see our best RPGs list for great games you can play right now.