There's a lot riding on the next Mass Effect game. Bioware was once a bastion of the RPG genre, revolutionizing how players make meaningful decisions in videogames. However, that formula has grown a little stale, and fans are worried for the iconic studio after three fairly poorly received games in a row. Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Anthem, and Mass Effect: Andromeda were seemingly victims of tumultuous development cycles, the former two thanks to corporate pivots towards - and then away from - live-service. Therefore, when a new job listing for the next iteration of Mass Effect popped up this week, fans immediately scoured it for details.
Bioware is looking for a lead level designer to help it to make the next best space game - a title befitting as storied a series as Mass Effect. As well as all the usual duties for a position of authority, the likes of brainstorming ideas and developing exciting missions, there's one line that catches the eye.
"The studio is developing future game experiences for the Mass Effect franchise," the job listing reads. Experiences, plural. This suggests that on top of Mass Effect 5 or whatever it ends up being called (personally I think they might call it Mass Effect 4 to try to expunge Andromeda from our collective consciousness), Bioware is looking beyond. There are no hints as to what this beyond could entail, so it could just as easily be Mass Effect Mobile as Mass Effect 6. If the former lets me take Tali on the tube, though, I'm all in.
It's worth remembering that this hire comes in the wake of a 'restructuring' of Bioware earlier this year, which halved the number of employees working at the company. It's unknown whether all these devs were redistributed within EA or laid off, but Bioware needs to find its footing again.
The fact that this job listing is live at all suggests that Bioware is likely starting development, but with the industry's spiralling production timelines, that doesn't necessarily mean we'll see a new Mass Effect game any time soon.
If you can't wait that long, pick any of the best RPG games and have yourself a great time. Or you could join me in reminiscing about the Mass Effect Legendary Edition romance options and wondering what they'll do next.
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