A former BioWare dev seems optimistic about the next Mass Effect, stating it might be the first time the dev 'is able to singularly focus on a single project'

But don't expect it anytime soon

23 Jan 2025, 10:45 · TechRadar

News By Rhys Wood published 23 January 2025

(Image credit: Bioware)

Former BioWare developer Mark Darrah has offered his thoughts on the next Mass Effect game
The team could be in the unique position of having only one project to focus on
Darrah stresses that the project still needs a larger team to form around it

A former BioWare executive producer has stated that the studio may now be able to "singularly" focus on the next Mass Effect game.

As reported by GamesRadar, Mark Darrah, who'd worked at BioWare for 24 years before leaving in 2021, had some thoughts to share about the upcoming Mass Effect project in a previously members-only YouTube video which did the rounds on ResetEra.

The key takeaway here is that Darrah believes the studio finds itself in a unique position of only having a sole project to work on, whereas in the past, the team often found itself juggling multiple projects. He Said: "for the first time since arguably 1995, maybe not even then, BioWare is only working on a single project, which is Dragon Age: The Veilguard."

He then added that in the absence of any planned DLC for The Veilguard, "there's only Mass Effect, so everyone at BioWare will be working on Mass Effect."

But with that in mind, it's not quite as easy as the whole team banding together for the new game - at least not yet. "Mass Effect isn't ready to suddenly have a team of 250, 300 people working on it," stressed Darrah, adding that "there is a need to find other work for them within the rest of the EA organization while the Mass Effect team figures out what Mass Effect is going to be, figures out the structure, and then gets ready to ramp up to a much bigger team size."

There is a potential silver lining in all this, however, and Darrah seemed to be at least somewhat optimistic about the Mass Effect project. "This might be great because what it means is that BioWare, for the first time really ever, is able to singularly focus on a single project, is able to put all of its tension 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."

With that in mind, though, it does seem like it'll be a while yet before BioWare can go all guns blazing on the next Mass Effect game, especially if it needs to properly form its team first. On that note, don't expect the sci-fi follow-up to be ready for a full announcement any time soon.

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