Mass Effect 5 Just Got Its Most Promising Update In Years

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Ben Brosofsky has been writing for Screen Rant since 2022 and editing since 2024. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor's in Cinema & Media Arts. Writing serves as a much-needed distraction from tackling a backlog of Steam games that will never be surmounted.

It's been hard to have faith that Mass Effect 5 will live up to the heights of the original trilogy, but the latest word on the subject is surprisingly reassuring. While the BioWare name was once synonymous with rich, compelling RPGs, recent years have seen a decline in reputation thanks to critical failures like Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem.

In a new YouTube interview with Destin Legarie (as reported by VideoGamer), former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah explained that "BioWare has effectively become a one-project studio," with the current project being the upcoming Mass Effect game. While this approach "has its own problems," it avoids the issue of "several projects fighting for attention and resources" that impacted the quality of some previous BioWare releases.

Mass Effect 5 Is BioWare’s Only Focus

Crop of Mass Effect concept art called Krogan Civil War, showing a Krogan firing a gun with one hand.

The interview as a whole mostly focuses on Anthem, following the recent shutdown of servers for BioWare's big attempt at an online RPG. Darrah brings up this structural shift at BioWare in the context of Anthem's struggles, and he acknowledges that the game was ultimately "too big of a reach."

Darrah hasn't been present at the studio in several years, but he's unaware of any other projects at BioWare stealing attention from the next Mass Effect, a situation that he notes is "probably for the best."

This Is A Great Sign For ME5

The road to this point has been rocky for BioWare, and the studio's current focus comes with a human cost. While the studio reportedly had a workforce of over 200 employees during Dragon Age: The Veilguard's development, it's now down to less than 100 working on Mass Effect 5. It's been a long time since the studio has had a hit on the level of Mass Effect 3 or Dragon Age Inquisition, and parent company EA is no stranger to downsizing subsidiaries.

At this point, however, it does feel like BioWare has finally moved past its biggest mistakes. The failure of Anthem and a mid-development pivot away from a live-service concept for Dragon Age: The Veilguard have reinforced the studio's focus on single-player experiences, and making Mass Effect 5 the sole priority gives it an advantage that the last few releases never had.

Of course, it also means that BioWare is putting all of its eggs in one basket, and the studio's future might be entirely dependent on the success of the next Mass Effect game. Hopefully, BioWare's focus on Mass Effect 5 will make it possible to pull off a big comeback.