The next Mass Effect would have had ‘a level of autonomy and choice that no other game has been able to match’, according to BioWare veteran
BioWare’s unreleased Mass Effect 4 project has been detailed by a former developer, revealing the studio’s ambitious vision before its closure. Tony de Waal, cinematic supervisor at BioWare, shared insights into the canceled RPG, describing plans for “a level of autonomy and choice that no other game has been able to match.”
De Waal, who spent 29+ years at the studio across two separate tenures, returned to BioWare in 2021 following Dragon Age: The Veilguard development. He was positioned to work on the next Mass Effect title before the studio’s shutdown. The team reportedly numbered approximately 50 people before closure.
According to de Waal’s account, BioWare had been studying successful industry competitors when designing Mass Effect 4, specifically drawing inspiration from Larian Studios and CD Projekt Red—both known for their emphasis on player choice and branching narratives in recent titles like Baldur’s Gate 3.
The canceled project represents another significant loss in the gaming industry’s recent contraction. Mass Effect 4 now joins a growing list of ambitious AAA titles that never reached completion due to studio closures and industry consolidation.