Mass Effect 5’s confirmed plot is only making this year's N7 Day hurt all the more
It’s November 7, which means that it’s N7 Day, a day usually put aside to celebrate the Mass Effect franchise while also teasing what lies in store for its future.
This year’s edition is very different, to say the least. Electronic Arts recently decided to close BioWare, putting an end to the development of the highly anticipated Mass Effect 5.
In the days following the studio’s closure, Mass Effect 5’s trailer was released online by a developer, confirming the title to be Mass Effect Universe, at least at that point in its development.
The trailer offered a tease of what fans could have expected from the new installment’s story; add that to everything BioWare has teased on N7 Day over the years and Mass Effect 5 was shaping up to be something very exciting indeed.
Mass Effect 5 was seemingly due to centre around a civil war between the Krogans
Mass Effect Universe was almost definitely going to feature a Krogan civil war, or at least be influenced by one, as this was made abundantly clear during 2025’s N7 Day. After deciphering a code, Mass Effect fans were taken to a hidden web page featuring concept art of a whole group of krogans in the midst of battle, with the concept art simply called ‘Civil War’.
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One Krogan was predominantly featured in the artwork, although this individual is not believed to be a familiar character. It’s not Andromeda’s Dreck - and the featured Krogan looks too old to be Mass Effect 2’s Grunt, even if a fair bit of time has passed. Perhaps this particular Krogan wasn’t even set to play a major role in the Mass Effect Universe.
As for what the Krogan might be fighting about, well, there are a couple of options given that Mass Effect 3 has several endings with Shepard potentially aiding the Krogan in ridding their species of a plague causing infertility. The Krogans are a boisterous lot, always looking to conquer and expand - and that’s surely only going to be worsened by a sudden rise in numbers. Perhaps some of the Krogan saw the error in the species' ways, and perhaps some wished to continue expanding their rule across the galaxy.
Mass Effect Universe also teased the return of the geth (more on that shortly), with both the geth and krogans serving the reapers. With the Geth potentially set to return, perhaps that might’ve caused a potential clash in the Krogan ranks.
The Geth would’ve made a return regardless of your Mass Effect 3 choices
One of the first teases for a new Mass Effect game came in the form of a poster, which landed on N7 Day in 2021. The poster featured a bird's-eye view of a ship landing near a crater on an unknown planet, but it feels pretty significant that the crater is designed to emulate the shape of a geth, teasing the return of the species.
In Mass Effect 3, players have a couple of options. Long story short, they can destroy the Geth, destroy the Quarians, or both species can survive. The Geth survive in the Control and Synthesis endings, but are destroyed in the aptly titled Destroy ending.
That would have made the species’ inclusion in the Mass Effect Universe pretty complicated. For some players, the geth should have, in theory, been living in peace since the events of Mass Effect 3. For others who chose the Destroy ending, it’s fair to say that the sudden return of the Geth could’ve potentially been cause for conflict. It definitely would’ve been interesting to see what the plan was here to respect all former endings.
READ MORE: Mass Effect 3's multiplayer mode confirms return after ME5 is killed off for good
Liara looked set to be a key figure in the Normandy crew post-Shepard era
Mass Effect 5, or Universe, was reportedly set 600 years after the Reaper War. We’ve known for quite a number of years that Liara was set to return. She featured in a brief teaser launched back in 2021 that featured lots of vague clips of debris floating through space. Eventually, the teaser shifted to a snowy planet where we found a hooded Liara in search of debris particularly related to the Normandy.
It was clear at this point that she was working with a team, as the trailer featured three individuals standing outside a ship in the near distance. As an Asari, Liara can live for over 1,000 years, explaining her presence in the planned sequel. Her inclusion was reaffirmed in the leaked Mass Effect Universe trailer, which shifted the focus from this familiar face to a new protagonist. We don’t have a name for the male lead in the trailer, but the supposedly James Bond-inspired character confirmed that he’s an ex-soldier turned Normandy crew.
Mass Effect 5’s new protagonist may have partaken in the Krogan civil war
Interestingly, Mass Effect Universe’s leaked trailer shows a glimpse of the unnamed protagonist’s military background, and it feels like no coincidence that he’s fighting exclusively against Krogan. Perhaps during the civil war, the Systems Alliance sent in soldiers to help try and bring about peace.
As part of the Normandy crew, the new protagonist appears to be pursuing an Asari target, although this individual was probably only a low-level villain. We see the protagonist working alongside a Krogan, Quarian, and human ally as well as Liara. That, in itself, is interesting as the Quarians are one of the species that can die out in Mass Effect 3. The trailer also features brief glimpses of Salarians and Turians, albeit fighting against our heroes.
Clearly, no one knows precisely how all of the above narrative strands would have ultimately tied together - and as Mass Effect 5 remained deep in development, the story could have continued to evolve.
What we do know is that everything we’ve seen of Mass Effect 5 reflects precisely the game all of us have been dreaming about for years. It looks like BioWare was bang on the money with what was shaping up to be a true return to form, and it’s heartbreaking that this lost storyline will now seemingly never play out.
Topics: Mass Effect, EA, Bioware
