Summary
Despite wrapping up work onDragon Age: The Veilguard, BioWare may not release the nextMass Effecttitle anytime soon. Fans have been waiting for news of the follow-up to the original trilogy since the initial teaser dropped in 2020, but little has come out in that time. While many assumed the nextMass Effectwouldn’t be far off after work onThe Veilguardwrapped, it may take longer than expected to come out.
BioWare has confirmed thatit’s focusing onMass Effect 4now, with no plans to release DLC for the latestDragon Agetitle. That means more people and resources are now atMass Effect’s disposal, but fans may need to manage their expectations about how that will impact the release timeline. While production on the game will ramp up, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be ready shortly.
Former BioWare executive Mark Darrah explained the expected production timeline for the nextMass Effectin a January 21 video on his YouTube channel. He notes that the entire BioWare team was previously working onDragon Age: The Veilguard— a level of focus the studio hadn’t seen in years. While that means there’s now a huge number of people ready to work onMass Effect, the game itself isn’t far enough along yet to support that much simultaneous work. WhileMass Effect 4has series veterans working on it, Darrah suggests there’s a lot of work to be done before the project is ready to accept a larger team.
The Next Mass Effect May Not Be Ready for a Bigger Team Yet
Simply put, there’s not enough work available right now for the entire BioWare staff to get involved. Darrah says they’ll need to find other work within EA to tackle while a smaller group lays more of the groundwork forMass Effect 4to eventually ramp up production and take on more developers. What exactly that other work would be is unclear. BioWare insiders have discussed howaDragon Ageremaster would be difficult, and the studio already said it won’t make any DLC for the game. It’s also not evident how long it’ll take before theMass Effectteam can grow.
The news thatMass Effect 4may take longer than expected despite BioWare freeing up employees may be disappointing, but Darrah points out that there’s a bright side. Having more people and resources than necessary is a good problem to have, as it lets teams focus on building the best possible game they can without constraints. For now, though, fans will have to wait for more details. The latestDragon Agemay have confirmedMass Effect 4rumorsabout Shepard coming back, but beyond speculation like this, there’s not much players can tell about the game yet.
