Former BioWare Veteran Reveals Mass Effect 5 Is Still in Pre-Production

A former BioWare veteran, Mark Darrah, has shared insights into the development status of the highly anticipated Mass Effect 5. Despite being announced four years ago, the game is reportedly not ready for full-scale production yet. Darrah, who worked as a director and executive producer on the Dragon Age series during his 23-year tenure at BioWare, explained the situation in a video on his YouTube channel.

Development Team Reassignments

With the recent release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, fans are turning their attention to the next entry in the beloved Mass Effect franchise, which hasn’t seen a new game since 2017’s Mass Effect: Andromeda. While some may have expected development to ramp up after Dragon Age’s release, Darrah clarified that the process is more complicated.

He explained that while some members of the Dragon Age team are now being reassigned to Mass Effect 5, many others are being directed to other projects within EA. According to Darrah, “Mass Effect isn’t ready to suddenly have a team of 250, 300 people working on it.” This contrasts with BioWare’s past practices, where projects like Anthem or The Veilguard would absorb all available resources once they reached full production.

Focus on Quality Over Speed

Darrah pointed out that this current approach could actually be a good thing. By not rushing the transition to full production, BioWare can take its time to properly focus on pre-production and planning, ensuring that the game’s development is deliberate and thorough. “This might be great,” Darrah said, “because what it means is BioWare, for really the first time ever, is able to singularly focus on a single project, is able to put all attention on a single project, is able to put everything it has towards a single goal: which is making the best Mass Effect it possibly can.”

For now, it appears that Mass Effect 5 remains in the pre-production phase, and BioWare has yet to finalize plans for its full-scale development. This means fans will likely have to wait a while longer before they can return to the galaxy for a new adventure.