BioWare says new Mass Effect will have ‘a mature tone and photorealistic visuals’

BioWare has commented on the tone and art style of the next Mass Effect game.

Ahead of Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s release on Friday, Mass Effect franchise director and executive producer Mike Gamble said he’s been contacted by lots of players asking about BioWare’s next big game.

“Lots of people asking me about Mass Effect now that Veilguard reviews are out, and Oct 31 is close,” he wrote on X.

“Both are from the studio, but Mass Effect is Mass Effect. How you bring a Sci Fi RPG to life is different than other genres or IPs…and has to have different kinds of love.”

Fantasy RPG The Veilguard features stylised characters and an art style inspired by Northern Renaissance paintings and Akira Kurosawa films, Dragon Age art director Matt Rhodes recently told Electric Playground Network.

“I’m not sure I agree with the Pixar thing, but Mass Effect is photorealistic and will be as long as I’m running it”, Gamble said in response to a user who pleaded with BioWare not to explore a new visual style for the sci-fi series.

“Regarding tone questions: Mass Effect will maintain the mature tone of the original Trilogy,” he added. “This is all I’m gonna say for now.”

BioWare first revealed it was working on a new Mass Effect game in November 2020 with the release of a teaser trailer.

Later that year, it said a number of Mass Effect trilogy veterans had returned to work on the next entry in the series.

And in July 2022 it confirmed that veteran narrative director Mary DeMarle, the writer behind the modern Deus Ex games, had joined the studio to helm the story for the next Mass Effect.

BioWare owner EA said last March that the studio’s Mass Effect team was assisting with Dragon Age: The Veilguard development, while a small core group led by Gamble continued pre-production work on the next entry in the sci-fi series.

It’s been claimed that the next Mass Effect game might not be released until 2029 or later.