Mass Effect 5 won't be open world, which is actually great news

It’s believed that Mass Effect 5 remains in development at BioWare despite the mass layoffs affecting many at EA. Our thoughts continue to remain with those affected by the ongoing volatility of the games industry.

As for Mass Effect 5, BioWare has been quietly teasing it for quite some time, dropping new tidbits everytime Mass Effect Day rolls around in November. Thus far, it looks as if the Reapers and Geth will be returning, in addition to our old pal Liara. There are also theories that we’ll see the Krogan again but as you can tell, nothing is concrete. BioWare sure does know how to pacify us with the most vague teasers possible. I’m afraid today, I’m only going to add that uncertainty. It’s believed that Mass Effect 5 won’t be open world, instead returning to the franchise’s “classic format” but this is the word of a so-called insider.

Take a look at a Mass Effect 5 teaser below.

It was Andromeda that saw the series adopt more of an open-world approach. While all series entries offer you somewhat of an open playground, the choice of where to travel to next felt far more limited before Andromeda came along. As previously reported by Eurogamer though, insider Jez Corden said that, to his knowledge, BioWare plans to “ditch open world and go to [the] classic format”.

“I don't know if that's accurate, 100 percent, but it's an industry rumour,” Corden added. With that in mind, I would take this piece of information with an enormous pinch of salt as it does feel like mere speculation. I can understand what led to such a belief though. The original Mass Effect trilogy was far more successful than Andromeda. It makes sense to return to that format.

As for when Mass Effect 5 is expected to release, that too is unknown. Despite being in the works for several years, it’s believed that the game is still pretty early in its development cycle so for now, we’ll have to settle for those N7 Day teases.