Fans debate claim Mass Effect 5 won't launch until 2029
"Can we not?"
Mass Effect fans have been debating a recent claim that the next game in the series may not launch until 2029.
This week, Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb suggested Mass Effect 5 would not arrive until near the end of the decade, based on insider knowledge and some back of the envelope maths based on the ongoing and protracted development of Dragon Age Dreadwolf.
Grubb's comments were predictably pounced upon by fans following a somewhat mixed response to this year's annual Mass Effect franchise celebrations on 7th November - N7 Day.
Speaking on the Game Mess Morning podcast, Grubb said: "You want some original reporting? This game is just nowhere near coming out."
BioWare has previously stated that it has a small team working on the next Mass Effect, while the bulk of its studio completes the long-awaited Dragon Age Dreadwolf.
"I was told that when they revealed Dragon Age Dreadwolf in 2018, this is similar in terms of timeline," Grubb continued. "That was announced in 2018 and we're not getting that game until maybe next year."
BioWare is yet to set a release window for Dreadwolf, which it has delayed internally several times during its protracted development. But currently, Eurogamer understands, it is indeed set to arrive at some point in 2024.
"So now do the math for that, and we're talking 2029 for Mass Effect 5," Grubb concluded.
Should Dreadwolf release next year without any further delay, the game's six-year journey from formal announcement in 2018 to launch in 2024 marks the longest wait between launches in any BioWare franchise - more than the five years between Mass Effect 3 and Mass Effect Andromeda.
It's been a development fraught with unexpected delay, the departures of various key staff members, and at least two production reboots reported as EA and BioWare pivoted towards more of a multiplayer focus for the franchise - something it then ditched again after the response to Anthem. BioWare's focus on Anthem, particularly in that project's final stages, also swallowed up time. And there was the effects of Covid, during which BioWare transitioned to embrace remote working.
So, will Mass Effect 5 take as long? It seems pessimistic to assume so, considering the saga of Dreadwolf's development.
"Can we not? Outside of BioWare themselves, nobody actually knows how long it'll take," reads a thread on the Mass Effect reddit.
"Eh, we'll know after we see the sales numbers for Dreadwolf. If that flops then Mass Effect 5 release date will be: never," wrote another. Cheery!
"All I know is that I wasn't expecting to get excited again over a little teaser trailer," another fan added, referencing the short video released on N7 Day this week. "But then they cheated by showing a badass N7 trenchcoat..."
Eurogamer has contacted EA for more.