Mass Effect 5 devs says they're thinking hard about canon debates: "who really died?"
This could be a tricky situation to navigate
Mass Effect 5 devs have sent the internet into a flutter by acknowledging ongoing debates around 'canon' deaths.
Yesterday, November 7, BioWare got Mass Effect fans everywhere very excited with an Epsilon teaser. The teasing footage showed a character donning a jacket embroidered with the classic 'N7' logo, but it's the accompanying blog post for N7 Day that's got some fans more intrigued.
As you can see below, what's got fans excited is the part of the blog post where Mass Effect franchise director Mike Gamble directly acknowledges debates surrounding what is and isn't 'canon' in the Mass Effect universe. For example, who actually died in the Mass Effect trilogy? Who hooked up with who? Where are the Ryder twins?
The Mass Effect team putting this in their N7 Day announcement is my new roman empire 🥲 #MassEffect pic.twitter.com/THr5oDf1jcNovember 7, 2023
Gamble seems to be confirming that Mass Effect 5 will actually tackle these questions, and thus confirm certain activities and relationships as 'canon.' That could be very bad news for some players, and great news for others, depending on the choices players made.
It's a pretty bold move from BioWare, if this is the path it's headed down. Mass Effect 5, whenever it eventually rolls around years from now, could be about to please and upset long-time fans in equal measure, depending on which choices, relationships, and deaths are lauded with 'canonical' status.
We still don't have any other details for Mass Effect 5 right now. BioWare is all-in on Dragon Age Dreadwolf at the moment, which similarly doesn't have a release date, or even a release window, for that matter.
What we do know is that Mass Effect 5 is still in pre-production, as of earlier this year in June.
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Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.