Mass Effect 5 will have romance options, BioWare has confirmed, in addition to dropping a hint about their quantity. A senior company official revealed this tidbit alongside some new information about the upcoming Mass Effect TV show.
The fifth mainline game in the sci-fi RPG series was originally confirmed to be in development on N7 Day 2020. BioWare Executive Producer Michael Gamble later said that Mass Effect 5 was still on track but remained in pre-production as of February 2025.
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Romance Options Are Returning in Mass Effect 5
Gamble has now reiterated that Mass Effect 5 remains in development as part of a blog post commemorating the 2025 edition of N7 Day. While he did not clarify whether the project has progressed beyond pre-production since his last update, he suggested it is still in its early stages. "We have a lot of universe to cover, lots of features to build, and lots of romances to figure out," Gamble wrote. Although his post concludes by stating that "there is no secret game information to be gleaned" from its contents, the above remark appears to confirm that the upcoming title will continue Mass Effect’s tradition of offering extensive romance options.
Mass Effect Is BioWare's Sole Focus Right Now
According to insider accounts, the Mass Effect team was temporarily reassigned in 2023 to help finish Dragon Age: The Veilguard, following multiple reboots of the fantasy RPG. The move reportedly wasn't frictionless and even sparked some infighting at BioWare. While the company has not officially addressed these claims, Gamble has now confirmed that its priorities are no longer divided, stating that the next Mass Effect game is currently BioWare's sole focus.
Amazon's Mass Effect TV Series Will Tell an Original Story
Separately, the executive also reflected on the Mass Effect TV series that Amazon announced exactly one year ago. He confirmed the show will tell an original story set in the already established universe. It will be set after the events of Mass Effect 3, Gamble said, adding that the writers' room spent a lot of time trying to figure out how the TV series fits within the existing canon. Ultimately, it was decided that it wouldn't be an adaptation of Commander Shepard's journey. "That's YOUR story, isn't it," Gamble asked rhetorically.
[The Mass Effect TV show] won’t be a retread of Commander Shepard’s story – because after all … that’s YOUR story, isn’t it?
Since player choices can influence the fate of many characters throughout the in-game universe and not even Commander Shepard's gender is set in stone, it's possible that Gamble's remarks hint at the TV show being set many years following Mass Effect 3, at a point where the protagonist of the original trilogy is but a legend or at least a distant memory. This approach would mirror Mass Effect: Andromeda, which was set more than 600 years after the original trilogy.
Amazon's TV Show Likely Coming Before Mass Effect 5
An Amazon production listing that surfaced online over the summer indicated that the Mass Effect TV series will begin filming in Q4 2026. Modern big-budget, CGI-heavy shows typically require 12 to 20 months from the start of principal photography to premiere. If the Mass Effect series follows that trend, its inaugural season could debut as early as 2028. That would place its release well ahead of Mass Effect 5, which currently appears unlikely to launch this decade.
With modern AAA game development cycles averaging around five years and Mass Effect 5 still being in pre-production as of the first half of 2025, 2030 seems to be the earliest that the game could feasibly hit the market. This would place it firmly within the next console generation, though a cross-gen release cannot be fully ruled out at this point.