Mass Effect Universe Still "Years Away" From Finishing, Bloomberg Reports

Mass Effect: Universe Was "Years Away From Completion" BioWare Published Oct 30, 2026, 11:33 AM EDT James Lucas is an Executive Editor at TheGamer who has worked in professional journalism since 2018. A Newcastle University graduate with a degree in Journalism, Media, and Culture, they have written hundreds of guides, news stories, and original reports, with bylines in IGN, NME, GaymingMag, and VG247, sourcing interviews with studio heads, legendary industry figures, prominent actors, and more. An expert on FPS games, Soulslikes, RPGs, and survival horror, James has intimate knowledge of a wide variety of titles, providing in-depth coverage and exclusive profiles. Some of the games they have extensively covered include: Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Elden Ring, and Fallout. They pride themselves on their consistently thorough research, leveraging nearly a decade of industry experience. You can reach them at James.t@thegamer.com Sign in to your TheGamer account EA announced that it was closing BioWare on October 21, while also canceling the next Mass Effect game. An anonymous employee responded by leaking an internal trailer, giving us our best look yet at what the team were cooking up. But it still wasn't clear how far along development was. YouTuber and Mass Effect council member, Dantics, claimed that "they were a lot further in development than their statement suggested", and argued that "we were going to get something truly magical," but Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier alleges that the next Mass Effect game was in fact "years away from completion" and still in the pre-production phase. Unfortunately, this was a knock-on effect from the tumultuous behind-the-scenes production of Dragon Age: The Veilguard—as development on Mass Effect: Universe was paused for two years to try and salvage the game. So, while the new Mass Effect may have been announced in 2020, it wasn't anywhere near finished when BioWare was shut down six years later. It's Unclear If EA Attempted To Sell BioWare First Bloomberg also alleged in its report that the decision to close BioWare and cancel Mass Effect Universe ultimately boiled down to Star Wars, as Lucasfilm offered it the opportunity to develop a third Battlefront game. Schreier claims that EA was unwilling to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on two sci-fi action games, and that it saw Battlefront 3 as the safer bet. Even though the company said just two years ago that it wanted to focus less on licensed IP. It's still unclear right now whether EA attempted to sell BioWare or its flagship IPs—i.e. Mass Effect and Dragon Age—before shutting the studio down, but Schreier notes that EA has historically been "reluctant" to sell franchises, even if they are dormant. Indeed, while BioWare has been closed and the next Mass Effect canceled, the company is still going ahead with the Prime Video series, which is slated to have multiple seasons. Released November 20, 2007 ESRB M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence Developer(s) BioWare Publisher(s) Electronic Arts Engine Unreal Engine 3 Cross-Platform Play doesn't have cross-play between PC and consoles, Cross Save yes Franchise Mass Effect