BioWare Shares Surprise Update on Mass Effect 4

By Tyler Fischer

BioWare has shared a new update on the next Mass Effect game, tentatively and unofficially labeled "Mass Effect 4" or "Mass Effect 5" by swaths of the Internet. Unfortunately, the update is brief, but it does come with some fairly major news, which is that the game has finally moved out of pre-production and into early development. What does this mean? Well, it means fans of Mass Effect can finally start anticipating an actual release, because assuming nothing goes wrong in the game's development, it should be out in the next three to four years.

Of course, the game entering the early stages of development is good news for Mass Effect fans, but it sounds like it may be the only news for a while. In the same update, BioWare notes that "it's going to be a while" before it talks about the game in more detail. This seems to rule out any meaty details or media coming later this year.

"There's also the next game in the Mass Effect universe, which is now early in development," reads the update. "It's going to be a while before we can talk about it in more detail, but we can't wait to show you what we're working on!"

The previous Mass Effect game, Mass Effect Andromeda, had a very troubled development, so it's hard to say with much confidence this development milestone hints at a more specific release window. Not only did the previous Mass Effect game have a troubled development, but Dragon Age 4 has had substantial issues. If when it was entered the early stages of development was indicative of when it was going to release, it would have been out a few years ago. 

As always, we will keep you updated if this update is added to by any updates or teases from any specific developer on the project, but for now, it sounds like this is all Mass Effect fans are getting for now.  In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts and hot-takes in the comments section or, alternatively, hit me up on Twitter @Tyler_Fischer_ and let me know over there. When do you think we will see the next Mass Effect game and what do you want to see from it?

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