Mass Effect 5 release date speculation, trailer & latest news

We were teased at last year’s N7 celebrations with hints of the new game, but developers have spoken publicly about the game’s road to release, as well as what the fifth instalment may look like visually.

Read on for everything we know about Mass Effect 5.

When is the Mass Effect 5 release date? Our speculation

We’re afraid to say that Mass Effect 5 is a long way off, and perhaps the most realistic estimation was given by Giant Bombs's Jeff Grubb, who on the site's Game Mess Mornings podcast (beginning at 28:30) said: "We're talking 2029 for Mass Effect 5."

This was drawn from Grubb’s insight into the development of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, then known as Dreadwolf.

"I was told that when they revealed Dragon Age Dreadwolf in 2018, this is similar in terms of timeline… That was announced in 2018 and we're not getting that game until maybe next year."

As we’ve subsequently seen with The Veilguard, which is due out on 31st October 2024, it’s been a six-year development cycle – something not uncommon for big triple-A releases these days.

Doing some napkin maths, Grubb gave his estimation: "So now do the math for that, and we're talking 2029 for Mass Effect 5."

This is obviously a tough pill to swallow – especially for fans of the series – but the likelihood is that this is a realistic time frame.

Previously, BioWare’s general manager Gary McKay stated in a blog post from 2022 that Mass Effect 5 was in a prototyping phase: "We’re also working on the next Mass Effect. The team… are all actively prototyping new ideas and experiences."

But McKay was keen to stress the reality of the situation: "AAA next-gen games take a long time to make."

It’s not for no good reason, however, especially when how poorly received Anthem was.

"Our number one priority needs to be quality, and that simply takes time to get it right."

This all lends credence to what Grubb said, and 2029 may well be when to expect the next instalment.

Can I pre-order Mass Effect 5?

No, you cannot currently pre-order Mass Effect 5. Considering the game is still in pre-production, we won’t see anything in the way of a pre-order for some good years to come.

When we have information regarding this, we will do our due diligence and update you.

Fortunately, the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition offers Mass Effect 1, 2 and 3 in one handy package, providing hours upon hours of gameplay and story in the here and now.

You can buy Mass Effect: Legendary Edition for Steam for £16.19 on CDKeys, the Xbox Series X/S version for £23.99 from CDKeys or the PS4 version for £22.49 from Amazon.

Which consoles and platforms can play Mass Effect 5?

Considering the project is still many years out, there is every chance that Mass Effect 5 will come out for the future PS6, next-gen Xbox and PC.

Depending on when during the next console generation Mass Effect 5 will come out, it could potentially be a cross-gen title and see a release on the current-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Seeing as the next-gen Switch 2 is most likely coming out in 2024, the system may be too long in the tooth by the time Mass Effect 5 rolls out - but we’ve seen some "impossible" ports make their way to the Switch, like Doom: Eternal and Sniper Elite 5.

Mass Effect 5 gameplay and story news

Gameplay-wise, we can probably expect Mass Effect 5 to draw upon what worked in the previous entries in the series, with good third-person shooting and traversal in a massive sprawling RPG featuring many planets and - potentially - galaxies.

The story is a little less clear, but we do know that Mary DeMarle, who worked on the Deus Ex reboots and Guardians of the Galaxy, will be at the helm as the veteran narrative director, as reported by VGC.

BioWare’s Michael Gamble recently spoke with fans on X, where he addressed questions about Mass Effect 5’s art style in the wake of Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s release.

The latter uses a more cartoonish set of visuals, more akin to the Fable series than the gritty realism of past games.

However, Gamble clarified: "Mass Effect will maintain the mature tone of the original trilogy. Mass Effect is photorealistic and will be as long as I’m running it."

BioWare was also dropping some little clues here and there as part of the N7 (November 7th) day celebration in a series of three "packets".

Overall, they don’t tell us much in the way of any plot, but they do link the original trilogy and Andromeda.

We know that Liara T’Soni and Geth will potentially be featured in Mass Effect 5 by their appearance in the 2022 teaser trailer.

The Asari race can live up to 1,000 years, and given the year that Andromeda took place (2819) and its reference in the packets below, this would mean she theoretically would have some years left.

These three packets were picked apart by user Forbidding on the Boardgame Geek forums.

First Packet

Below is the small transcript found in this First Packet.

• /////ACCESS CODE: EPSILON
• /////ACCESS CODE ACCEPTED
• /////SECONDARY ENCRYPTION DETECTED
• /////VJBSVU-XXXX-XXXXXXXX
• /////ANDROMEDA DISTRESS SIGNAL DETECTED
• /////YEAR SENT: [REDACTED]
• /////AUDIO TRANSCRIPT: ALTHOUGH THEY SHOULD KNOW BY NOW NOT TO UNDERESTIMATE HUMAN [REDACTED]

The "AUDIO TRANSCRIPT" is a line spoken by Liara to Geth that was decoded fromm the 2022 teaser trailer.

The most interesting part stems from "ANDROMEDA DISTRESS SIGNAL DETECTED", which is where we see our first confirmation that the plot of the original trilogy and that of Mass Effect: Andromeda will be linked.

Second packet

Gamble wasn’t quite finished yet, however, and took to X again.

This second page has the following transcript.

• /////ACCESS CODE: OCULON-2819-DEFIANCE
• /////ACCESS CODE ACCEPTED
• /////TERTIARY ENCRYPTION DETECTED
• /////CLASSIFIED: REVIEW BRIEFING MATERIALS ON OFFICIAL ALLIANCE COMMS CHANNELS

The year 2819 is when the Ark’s Leusina, Natanus and Paarchero finally made it to the Andromeda Galaxy in Mass Effect: Andromeda, further solidifying the link.

The Oculon was supposedly a working title for the series.

Third Packet

Finally, Gamble had one more packet to share.

This third packet contains the following.

• /////ACCESS CODE ACCEPTED: POST-NEBULA
• /////WARNING
• /////SECURITY BREACH DETECTED
• /////CONTACT SYSTEMS ALLIANCE
• /////EPSILON-OCULON-NEBULA

According to Forbidden, "Nebula: Guardans of the Citadel" was another working title.

Epsilon, Oculon and Nebula also form the acronym "EON".

As Forbidden points out, "SECURITY BREACH DETECTED" implies that someone (or something) has broken into a system and is trying to pinch the data within it.

Is there a Mass Effect 5 trailer?

There have been a couple of teaser trailers over the last few years, and the most recent can be viewed just below.

Michael Gamble confirmed on X that this footage was "in-engine", but it is likely that the final game will look considerably different.

This trailer is comprised of the individual parts found in the packets and shows a very slick-looking N7 operative donning a Daft Punk-esque helmet

During the N7 celebrations in 2022, we had a look at another teaser that featured the coded Liara line.

Other than that, we haven’t seen a huge amount - but from what can be gleaned from the packets and teasers, we’ll see the gap between the trilogy and Andromeda bridged.

Listen to our One More Life podcast, subscribe to our free newsletter and follow us on Twitter for all the latest gaming intel.

Looking for something to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.