Developer Bioware and Mass Effect fans around the world have gathered for the annual N7 day – the celebration of the space opera saga, enjoying all things Mass Effect from the First Contact War to Andromeda Initiative and beyond. The announcements from the earlier N7 days include the reveal of the Legendary Edition trilogy and the high quality poster from the Next Mass Effect, filled to the brim with clues and details. What’s up this year?
Admittedly, not much. And, although it is to be expected with the Next Mass Effect still in the relatively early development phase, many fans have expressed their disappointment with the company’s approach of revealing titles many years before the community gets the first glimpse of gameplay.
The official Mass Effect Twitter account has been updated with an animated scene featuring a grand building project, speculated to be a Mass Relay, as well as a coded message. The community has since banded together to decipher the fragment, leading to the upload of the clean version of the scene by the developers. You can find it below.
Thank you to all the agents who decoded the footage. Here’s a clean transmission 👀 https://t.co/iADrTHnU6s pic.twitter.com/ALNBNNM05a
— Mass Effect (@masseffect) November 7, 2022
The audio features a transmission by one Doctor Liara T’Soni, the Asari archeologist and a companion of Commander Shepard. Her involvement had already been revealed in the very first cinematic teaser trailer for the Next Mass Effect that you can find here.
But even that is not all: for the N7 week, Bioware revealed free Mass Effect-themed items coming to The Sims 4 on November 17. Don’t forget to pick up your uniform! Additionally, to celebrate the franchise, Bioware and partners are holding special sales. Check out the tweets to see the featured items: Head Case Designs, Volante Design, Dark Horse giveaway, official Bioware Store updates, Sanshee.
To give players updates on the development, the team also shared an official blog post. The message from the Project Director of the next Mass Effect game Mike Gamble states:
“In the nearly 15 years since the release of the first Mass Effect, the biggest reason we still love working on it is the warmth, dedication, and passion of this community. There are some of you who have been with us through everything. We’ve grown together, sacrificed Ashley together, (Editor’s Note: Or Kaidan, Mike! We all make different choices.) faced difficulties together…and laughed until our Faces Were Tired…together! And for those of you who are new to Mass Effect (thanks, Legendary Edition!), welcome! I can promise that many years of fun, adventures, and characters you’ll fall in love with are still ahead.”
Last but not least, the team from Bioware has shared a couple of new concept arts:
The Next Mass Effect is not the only project currently in development at Bioware. Just last month the studio revealed that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf reached the Alpha milestone and the work is proceeding as planned. Stay tuned for Dragon Age Day (December 4th) to see what the team has in plans!
“Up to this point, we’ve been working hard on the various parts of the game, but it’s not until the Alpha milestone that a game all comes together. Now, for the first time, we can experience the entire game, from the opening scenes of the first mission to the very end. We can see, hear, feel, and play everything as a cohesive experience.”
Of course, the game is not yet finished by any means. For those who need more DA-related content, there will be an all-new animated series Dragon Age: Absolution coming to Netflix this December. The events of the series are set in Tevinter, with Absolution featuring an ensemble of new characters inspired by Dragon Age lore, including elves, mages, knights, Qunari, Red Templars, demons and other special surprises.
Catherine Daro
Let’s hope Dragon Age day brings more substantial news for the lovers of Thedas!