Following the recent tease that a new Mass Effect game is currently in development with BioWare, a cinematic trailer dropped at The Game Awards, which could have major implications for the series.
The Mass Effect series gained major momentum this year with the slew of rumors followed by confirmation that a remastered edition of the beloved Mass Effect trilogy series will release in 2021. Not many other details are known about the upcoming remaster, other than it's planned to be released sometime in the first half of next year. More recently, new art of four silhouetted figures standing next to a large ship named the "Mud Skipper" sparked suggestion that a new game continuing the story of Mass Effect is in development.
Now, at tonight's Game Awards livestream, a short trailer confirmed that an upcoming Mass Effect game is in early development at BioWare, possibly unveiling what the series has in store for fans. The previously teased image led fans to think that it would bring the series to continue in Andromeda, an idea that isn't completely ruled out by what's shown in the new Mass Effect teaser trailer.
Releasing the trilogy remaster, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, prior to another installment in the series could have been planned by BioWare. Without giving anything away, depending on the ending that the player earns at the end of Mass Effect 3, the "good" endings will show ambiguous cutscenes that were always thought to tease the next chapter of the series. Previously, Andromeda had somewhat squashed the hope of a return of Commander Shepard, but the hope he'll make another appearance in the series may not be completely gone.
The first half of the new Mass Effect teaser only shows BioWare's stunning cinematic graphics of the galaxies, followed by what looks to be debris from destroyed space ships floating through space. Then, the Mud Skipper flies into view, the camera falls on a figure trudging through the snow, only to pick up a piece of armor and dust it off, revealing the familiar N7 logo. The face of Liara is revealed, implying that she's found Commander Shepard's armor.
Nothing has been confirmed, but this could mean that, instead of following the open ending that Andromeda left in its wake, the story could be following Shepard's allies after the catastrophic events of the Mass Effect trilogy. Andromeda is set between ME2 and 3, and this trailer looks to follow one of the good or best endings of Mass Effect 3.
A new Mass Effect game is currently in development.