On 21 October 2026, Electronic Arts (EA) closed the studio BioWare and cancelled the new Mass Effect game it had been working on. A day later, on 22 October, a trailer for the project Mass Effect: Universe appeared on Reddit. The Mass Effect Universe trailer leak showed what the cancelled game was meant to look like.
What the Mass Effect Universe trailer leak shows
At the start, the video states that it consists of footage created in the game engine and that it uses pre-production assets. The trailer introduces a former soldier who talks to a mysterious Asari in a bar. There is also a flashback with combat scenes in the spirit of the original trilogy. Liara T'Soni also appears. At the end, the title Mass Effect: Universe appears along with a promise of an imminent release.
Authenticity confirmed by Schreier and IGN
Jason Schreier of Bloomberg said it was a genuine trailer for the Mass Effect game that BioWare had been developing until its closure. IGN also confirmed that the video is real.
According to TheGamer, the trailer was uploaded to the Mass Effect subreddit by user Random_Hyabusa_Ninja. Moderators were unable to verify it, but concluded that it could be real and that it was not created using artificial intelligence.
The game's title and the Amazon series
Sources differ on the game's title. TheGamer writes about Mass Effect: Universe, while Pure Xbox refers to the cancelled game as Mass Effect 5 and to the trailer as Mass Effect Universe.
According to The Verge, Amazon is still working on a Mass Effect television series for Prime Video.
BioWare existed for more than 31 years. It was behind the Dragon Age, KOTOR and Mass Effect series, TheGamer recalled.