Mass Effect Universe Leaked After EA Killed BioWare

EA shut down BioWare on Wednesday — thirty years, gone in a memo — canceled the next Mass Effect, and cut roughly 400 jobs in the same sweep. Then the internet did what the internet does: less than a day later, an internal trailer for Mass Effect: Universe leaked to Reddit. And it stings, because it looks genuinely good.

The decision: EA cut around 400 jobs and closed its most storied RPG studio — the team behind Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Knights of the Old Republic.

The leak: two minutes of in-engine footage built from pre-production assets — zero gameplay. An N7 stranger in a bar, an asari who admits she's been "starting the fires," and then Liara T'Soni steps out of the crowd. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier and IGN both confirmed the footage is real.

What we're losing: the game was announced at The Game Awards back in 2020. Six years later, EA's memo reportedly described only "a small team" in early development.

The legacy: analysts told IGN the closure was "entirely predictable" — EA carries roughly $18 billion in debt after its $55 billion buyout, and prestige RPGs don't service that kind of bill.

The rerun: the Mass Effect TV series at Prime Video is reportedly still in active development. The games are gone; the show survived the memo.

Watch the 60-second take

The whole saga in under a minute — the shutdown, the leak, the confirmations, and why fans are grieving a game that never even got a title screen.

Video: [embedded above]

Source: Game Informer