Mass Effect 5 was cancelled less than 24 hours ago. It would seem that at least one BioWare employee wanted to show fans what they were now missing out on due to the corporate overlords, as a full trailer for the game has now leaked online.
At first, fans speculated whether this trailer was real, or if it was made with AI. As much as I hate to say it, the trailer does have a little bit of an AI-ish feel to it, in large part due to the ‘fake gameplay’ section towards the end. However, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier has been in touch with his sources and learned that the trailer revealed on Reddit this afternoon is indeed real.
Mass Effect: Universe Trailer
byu/Random_Hyabusa_Ninja inmasseffect
Now, just because this trailer was real does not mean it was planned to be shown publicly. It looks a lot like that recently leaked Iron Man trailer, acting as more of a showcase of broad gameplay concepts and ideas, intended to be shown to executives in a meeting to get approval to move on to the next stages of development.
The trailer shows a new cast of characters, but with the original trilogy’s Liara also making an appearance. For Mass Effect 5, the plan appeared to be a more fluid approach to combat, mixing gunplay and the use of special powers more seamlessly than prior games in the series. The story would have centred around a new ragtag group, led by a mysterious spy-like figure who ‘puts out fires before they start’. Given where Liara ends up at the end of the original trilogy, it isn’t hard to figure out why she would have been an important character in this new story.
Unfortunately, Mass Effect 5 is now cancelled and BioWare is being shut down, so we’ll never see this vision come to fruition. As a long-time fan though, it certainly looks like they were on the right path to kickstarting a new trilogy, one that would resonate better with fans compared to Mass Effect Andromeda.
KitGuru Says: The trailer shows that after many years in pre-production, the Mass Effect 5 team had a compelling idea for where to take the series next. Personally, I would have loved to have seen this game completed, and I like the ideas shown here far more than what we got in Mass Effect Andromeda.
