Leaked Trailer Offers a First Look at Mass Effect: Universe, the Game BioWare’s Shutdown Cancelled
Barely a day after EA announced it was shutting down BioWare and cancelling the studio’s next Mass Effect project, a trailer that appears to be from that very game has leaked online, and it is breaking fans’ hearts all over again. The clip, posted to the Mass Effect subreddit on October 22 by a brand new account, reveals the cancelled project’s apparent title, Mass Effect: Universe, along with a glimpse of the story and combat BioWare had reportedly been building before the studio’s closure cut everything short.
What the Leaked Trailer Shows
According to GameSpot, GamesRadar+ and TheGamer, who all reviewed the roughly two minute clip, the footage opens on a new human protagonist striking up a conversation with an asari in what looks like a bar, explaining that he and his crew “put out fires” for a living. The asari leans in and hints that she prefers starting them instead, and the scene turns out to be an ambush, as her allies and the protagonist’s own undercover squadmates, reportedly including a returning Liara T’Soni, break cover for a firefight against Krogan and Turian enemies. The trailer closes on the project’s logo and the now bittersweet promise that it is “coming soon.”
“The following is in-engine footage from our small team.”
Leaked Mass Effect: Universe trailer
Is the Leak Actually Real?
Neither BioWare nor EA has confirmed the trailer’s authenticity, and the account that posted it described itself as a fresh “burner,” which has plenty of fans checking the footage for signs of AI generation. Still, outlets who examined it closely found no obvious AI markers, and the leak followed closely on the heels of a separate claim, attributed to someone describing themselves as an EA employee, that a Mass Effect 5 trailer had already been finished months before EA shut BioWare down entirely this week and cancelled the project alongside it. Whether or not the clip turns out to be genuine, it is being treated across the community as the closest look fans may ever get at the game BioWare was cancelled before it could finish.
The leaked footage reportedly shows the new protagonist and their squad fighting both Krogan and Turian enemies.
A Painful Reminder of What Could Have Been
The tone of the leak is a big part of why it has resonated so widely. After the mixed reception of Mass Effect: Andromeda and the messy, divisive reinvention of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, many fans had gone into the shutdown news assuming the next Mass Effect might have struggled too. Instead, the leaked footage reads as confident, moody and distinctly true to the series’ roots, which has only made its cancellation sting more. Barring a surprise reversal from EA, which still owns the Mass Effect brand but has said nothing about its future, this leak may be the only look anyone ever gets at the project.
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Picture Source: Electronic Arts / BioWare
