Mass Effect 5 Dev Says BioWare Saw What Larian and CD Projekt Had Done in the RPG Space and Was Taking the Franchise to ‘The Next Level’

A former Mass Effect 5 developer has said that BioWare had seen what RPG powerhouses Larian and CD Projekt were achieving with their games, and was responding by taking Mass Effect to “the next level.”

Yesterday, EA sent shockwaves through the industry with the announcement that the next Mass Effect game was canceled and its developer, BioWare, was shutting down. Around 50 people were reportedly working on the game before development ended.

Since yesterday’s dramatic news, a number of people who had worked on Mass Effect 5 talked in vague terms about the game it was shaping up to be. On X / Twitter, New York Times bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente responded to a user who said, “A game industry that cannot figure out how to make a sequel to the literal best game of all time is a game industry that is fundamentally broken,” with: “We did figure it out. We were working on a great game. …