Former BioWare employee shares raw trailer for cancelled Mass Effect Universe – it looks like a spy action game

A Mass Effect 5 trailer was reportedly ready to go before EA canceled the game and shut BioWare down.

The claim surfaced on Reddit, in the subreddit for Austin, Texas, where BioWare had a studio. The poster said they saw a finished Mass Effect 5 trailer a few months ago, and is puzzled as to how the game could have been in early development.

The video is clearly far from final, and its overall "vibe" differs considerably from earlier Mass Effect games, though the suit on the male character matches previous concept art.

It looks like Mass Effect Universe was meant to be something like a spy action game. There are gunfights, but the video feels fairly intimate overall. It may have been made to show off the style the developers were aiming for.

According to Bloomberg, around 50 people were working on Mass Effect 5 when the studio closed. The decision followed the failure of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which launched in 2024 and fell short of EA sales expectations.

The news comes just weeks before N7 Day, which is celebrated every year on November 7. Less than 12 months ago, Mass Effect executive producer Mike Gamble celebrated the day with fans and said the next game was still in development. He also talked about the Amazon TV series and insisted that EA and BioWare "remain committed to telling more stories in this universe."

IGN understands the series is still in the works. Fans had hoped to see more of Mass Effect 5 on N7 Day, but it now seems likely to pass without fanfare. When one X user asked Gamble what might be announced next month, the producer kept it short: "You made me laugh. Thank you."