Mass Effect 5 is still in pre-production but "proceeding very well"

Mass Effect 5 poster
(Image credit: BioWare)

Mass Effect 5 remains in pre-production, though BioWare has revealed several new details about the game to tide fans over.

To celebrate N7 Day, taking place today on November 7, BioWare has published a brand new blog post teasing new details of the forthcoming sequel. "Pre-production development has been proceeding very well," reads the blog post. This sentence signals that the new Mass Effect game is still early in development, despite having been announced over a year ago in 2021.

This detail follows hot on the heels of BioWare revealing that it was still "envisioning" Mass Effect 5 just last week. The sequel might be in early development then, but the studio has still given a positive update on the goings-on, as well as revealing the sequel would definitely be a single-player game. That's music to the ears of those hoping for BioWare to get back to single-player offerings after Anthem, no doubt.

Elsewhere, BioWare confirms that Mass Effect 5 will feature returning characters from the longstanding RPG series, resurrecting characters fans have come to know and love. This admittedly isn't a huge surprise, given that the sequel's reveal trailer showed the beloved Liara to be present in the new game. 

Characters aren't the only familiar aspect of Mass Effect 5. It turns out that, according to BioWare, players will also be able to revisit past locations from the four entries in the series so far, although just like the mention of returning characters, the blog post stops short of mentioning which locations will be making a comeback.

A Guardian's of the Galaxy veteran is leading writing on Mass Effect 5, which should mean wondrous things for the forthcoming BioWare game. 

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.

Read more
BioWare
Mass Effect 5 is "still in pre-production" says director as BioWare shifts full focus to the sci-fi RPG amid dev reshuffles and reported layoffs
Mass Effect 5: What appears to be Liara appearing in the first teaser for the Next Mass Effect game
Mass Effect 5: Everything we know so far about the new BioWare adventure
Mass Effect 5
Mass Effect 5 is BioWare's only big project after Dragon Age: The Veilguard, studio veteran predicts, but "isn't ready to suddenly have a team of 250, 300 people"
Mass Effect 5 poster
As Dragon Age: The Veilguard director leaves and studio closure rumors surface, Mass Effect 5 director appears to hint the RPG is just fine: "Every week is a good week at work for me"
Mass Effect 3
BioWare lead proves he's onto us while celebrating Mass Effect 3's birthday, clarifying that's all he's doing so that "nobody can say I purposefully teased them"
Dragon Age: The Veilguard screenshot showing Bellara and Rook fighting an enemy
EA says Mass Effect 5 is now BioWare's "full focus" as it shuffles devs to other studios, with some reportedly facing layoffs following Dragon Age: The Veilguard's underperformance
Latest in RPG
Atomfall screenshot
Fallout: New Vegas is a big inspiration for Atomfall, which is why you’ll be able to kill every NPC in post-apocalyptic Cumbria
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin's Creed Shadows' transmog looks set to combine the best of Odyssey and Vahalla to make changing my drip easier than ever
Stardew Valley Baldur's Gate 3 mod Baldur's Village
Baldur's Gate 3 director Swen Vincke gives his official approval to the Stardew Valley mod that brings the D&D RPG to Pelican Town
The Witcher 3 lead says "not many games" were trying to match the RPG back in 2015, and that meant "there was a risk" to making it in the first place
The Blood of Dawnwalker
The Witcher 3 dev says his new vampire RPG Blood of Dawnwalker wants to challenge genre conventions, but only if "we're changing them to actually achieve some goal"
The Blood of Dawnwalker: A screenshot of the vampire Brencis holding up a crown during the trailer for the upcoming game.
The Witcher 3 devs created a Jekyll & Hyde-style character for their new vampire RPG "because nobody yet has done that"
Latest in News
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
Silent Hill f
After 2 years of silence, the next mainline Silent Hill game is getting a dedicated stream this week with "the latest news"
Original Xbox console
Former Microsoft exec says the first Xbox was killed early in favor of 360 because it was "losing money left right and center," but luckily "we could afford to hemorrhage cash"
A Monster Hunter Wilds character holding binoculars.
Despite Monster Hunter Wilds suffering monstrous performance problems on PC, it still outsold the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in the US
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will also be about "being lonely," as if his zombie apocalypse wasn’t isolating enough: "I really want you to be lost"
A screenshot of Jordan drinking a soda during the reveal trailer for Intergalactic: The Hertic Prophet.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "a game about faith and religion," which Neil Druckmann jokes will surely get less hate than The Last of Us 2