After EA shut down BioWare and canceled the next Mass Effect game this week, new details have surfaced about the project known internally as Mass Effect: Universe. A small team of roughly 50 developers had been working on the title, and recent leaks from someone who provided feedback during development paint a picture of a more tactical, player-driven experience than previous entries.

Game4v Mass Effect

The game was set more than 600 years after the Reaper War. Players would control a customizable N7 agent described as a cross between John Wick and James Bond rather than a heavily armed soldier. Experimental technology implanted in the protagonist would enable hacking and environmental manipulation similar to systems in Cyberpunk 2077. This included the ability to see through walls, identify systems, and remotely trigger hazards.

Key gameplay elements included:

  • Handcrafted missions structured like those in the original trilogy, but with Hitman-style freedom in how players complete objectives
  • Brutal close-range executions and more emphasis on enclosed, tactical combat
  • A focus on autonomy and choice, with developers aiming for a level of player freedom that matched or exceeded recent RPGs from Larian and CD Projekt

The setting was a galactic Cold War rather than another large-scale Reaper invasion, with the galaxy divided into major factions and connections between the Milky Way and Andromeda. The story was designed to accommodate all three Mass Effect 3 endings by using the long time jump to minimize major differences. Reapers surviving a Control ending would be outdated technology by this point, while advances in cybernetics fit a Synthesis outcome. In a Destroy scenario, Shepard’s legacy would still be remembered even if the character was long dead.

Returning characters included an older Liara T’Soni, now a powerful Asari Matriarch. Squadmates could clash with one another, and romance options were not being sanitized. A leaked internal trailer verified by outlets showed familiar elements such as space travel, a galaxy map, and Liara appearing in a bar fight.

BioWare cinematic supervisor Tony de Waal stated that the team was building something special with unmatched autonomy and choice while staying true to the original trilogy. With the studio now closed, fans will never see the finished version of these plans.