Bioware says next Mass Effect is still in development despite turmoil at EA

Development on the next Mass Effect is still underway, Mass Effect executive producer Mike Gamble confirmed in a blog post celebrating the series’ “N7 Day” fan holiday. Bioware shared that it had started work on the new game in 2020, but Electronic Arts’ decision to go private have naturally called the future of the series into question.

Gamble’s blog post doesn’t share many details about the new game beyond the fact that Bioware “is heads-down and focused exclusively on Mass Effect.” What does seem more clear is that the game could have some kind of connection to the Mass Effect TV show currently in development at Amazon. “The writers room is going strong, and we’ve got a lot figured out about how it fits within the Mass Effect canon, and where it sits in respect to the new game,” Gamble says. Notably, the series is set after the events of the original trilogy of games, and follows a new story in the universe’s timeline. “It won’t be a retread of Commander Shepard’s story.”

Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Bioware’s last game, was not the smash hit EA apparently wanted it to be, and Bioware has appeared to go through a period of contraction in response. High-profile senior staff were let go in January 2025, and even before the game was released, EA began moving Bioware developers to other studios. EA itself may also be adjusting its larger game development strategy. Following its proposed acquisition, the publisher announced a partnership with Stability AI in October to create new AI-powered tools to better streamline its development process.

The Mass Effect series is beloved, and Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, the 2021 remaster that packaged all the trilogy’s DLC and games into a single package, was a great reminder. With a new entry and a TV show in the works, Bioware seems poised for a comeback. It just needs to survive EA until then.