This year’s N7 Day came with the possible first look at Mass Effect 5, despite BioWare’s recent layoffs.
Transmission complete! Thanks to everyone that helped hunt down the footage. 🤝 Here’s the full video stitched together! #N7Day pic.twitter.com/6Q8kEQkb5b
— Mass Effect (@masseffect) November 7, 2023
November 7th, known as N7 Day for Mass Effect fans, came with a 34-second video from the game’s X account. Further, the Mass Effect website reads:
“/////ACCESS CODE: EPSILON
/////ACCESS CODE ACCEPTED
/////SECONDARY ENCRYPTION DETECTED
/////VJBSVU-XXXX-XXXXXXXX
/////ANDROMEDA DISTRESS SIGNAL DETECTED
/////YEAR SENT: [REDACTED]”
/////AUDIO TRANSCRIPT: ALTHOUGH THEY SHOULD KNOW BY NOW NOT TO UNDERESTIMATE HUMAN [REDACTED]”
The news of a possible new Mass Effect title came amidst BioWare laying off 50 roles back in August, which caused a lawsuit. An update to the lawsuit comes from Kotaku reporter Ethan Gach, who revealed that BioWare’s lawyers refused to negotiate and settle out of court.
More BioWare news: laid off devs suing for severance say the company is going to court instead of negotiating a settlement and call the process anything but “empathetic, respectful.”
They call N7 day a reminder of “the importance of loyalty to your crew”https://t.co/sBT04B0Dvq pic.twitter.com/UAu5yNUVJq
— AmericanTruckSongs9 (@ethangach) November 6, 2023
The reason for the lawsuit is that former employees should receive 1.7 months of severance per year of service; however, employees are currently only entitled to two weeks of severance per year of service, which is reportedly unenforceable.
Further, Game Developer reported that quality assurance testers at Keywords Studios who were laid off while working on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf picketed Bioware’s Edmonton HQ yesterday.
While Mass Effect fans, I’m sure, are excited about a new title, unfortunately, the Canadian studio has much controversy surrounding it.
Source: IGN
