Mass Effect 5 is still in pre-production, Bioware promises "spectacular new" approach to the series

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Bioware has a team of "veteran storytellers" leading the sci-fi RPG

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

Mass Effect 5 pre-production is still ongoing, but Bioware says the next entry in the RPG series is already "bringing the deep franchise history forward in a spectacular new way."

This brief status report was actually part of the studio's statement on the future of Star Wars: The Old Republic, the aging MMO which the studio has now confirmed is being passed to developer Broadsword. Bioware reiterated its "renewed focus on our two key franchises: Dragon Age and Mass Effect," and offered a brief update on its goals there. 

"For Dragon Age, we continue to build, polish, and tune an exceptional experience we know our fans will love," general manager Gary McKay writes, giving us the first official word on Dragon Age 4, Dreadwolf, since EA's indirect confirmation that it's at least a year away. "We can’t wait to share more on this soon."

"For Mass Effect, we continue pre-production with a core team of veteran storytellers who are bringing the deep franchise history forward in a spectacular new way," McKay adds.

We heard similar assurances back in November 2022, with a blog post from EA telling fans that "pre-production development has been proceeding very well." Just one month earlier, McKay explained that the team was still "envisioning what the future holds for a new single-player Mass Effect game."

McKay's new comments on a fresh approach to the lore or history of the franchise do raise an eyebrow, though for now we can only speculate as to how Mass Effect 5 may apply or explore the rich universe differently. 

We haven't properly seen Mass Effect 5 since a batch of artwork revealed for N7 2022, which quickly divided fans looking to interpret things. 

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.