Whilst Mass Effect 5 may have been confirmed by BioWare, its development status remains a mystery. First unveiled during 2020’s The Game Awards, it would mark the next mainline installment in the beloved sci-fi franchise since Mass Effect: Andromeda, but with it having been almost a decade since it was launched, the wait for Mass Effect 5 feels never-ending.
Although project director Mike Gamble confirmed that the team had shifted their focus to Mass Effect 5‘s development following the launch of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, details have since been scarce, and a recent development spells even more bad news.
That is because EA Sports FC and Mass Effect publisher EA have now been made private by investor consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF). Put simply, this means that EA is no longer a publicly-traded entity, and is now owned by Saudia Arabia via its PIF sector.
Perhaps even worse is that other investors have also taken part in this deal, including Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. If you did not know, Affinity Partners was established by U.S. president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The $55 billion deal will see Saudi Arabia have significant investments in the video game industry. Additionally, PIF and fellow investments also have major stakes in some of the biggest studios, such as Nintendo, Capcom, Nexon, Take-Two, and more. Now, EA will join the ever-growing list, which could cause disastrous effects for Mass Effect 5.
Until now, the Mass Effect saga has been diverse with its cast of characters, welcoming LGBTQIA+ relationships and characters of all types of backgrounds. As such, the Saudi Arabia deal has fans worried about what this means for franchises such as Mass Effect. With homosexuality being a criminal act in Saudi Arabia, it is believed that any LGBTQIA+ content could be censored from now on, deeply affecting the likes of Mass Effect and even The Sims.
Following the deal going ahead, fans of the BioWare saga took to r/masseffect to share their thoughts. “I honestly fear for the open-minded future of our franchise,” one post read. “Mass Effect was a big part of my life, and I loved that it tackled topics that might be controversial in its own way. It was never in your face, but subtle enough to be believable… especially with the choice of a badass female Shepard.”
However, another user was feeling slightly more hopeful, commenting, “Maybe they sell Mass Effect to a publisher who gives a s*it.”
At the time of writing, it remains to be seen how this recent deal will affect the future of the video game industry, or more specifically, Mass Effect 5. For now, however, all we can do is wait and see.
- Released
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November 20, 2007
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
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BioWare
- Publisher(s)
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Electronic Arts
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 3
- Cross-Platform Play
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doesn’t have cross-play between PC and consoles,
- Cross Save
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yes
