Rebuilding hope: New N7 Day Mass Effect teaser hints at scope of next game

N7 Day 2022 came with a fresh look at the future of the Mass Effect franchise as developers teased a future in which Mass Relays are being rebuilt for interstellar travel.

Despite being revealed back in 2020, details on the next Mass Effect title have been few and far between. Beyond the initial cinematic, fans have had very little to go off — not even so much as a name has been locked in.

A single poster arrived this time last year, teasing a strike team consisting of Krogan, Asari, and human characters in a crate shaped oddly like the outline of a Geth robot. Since then, the dev team has remained silent, holding off any further intel until this year’s N7 Day celebration.

In 2022, fans have been treated to another piece of gorgeous artwork. This time around though, we can glean a little more from what’s on display. The future of Mass Effect appears to be a hopeful one if this new asset is anything to go by.

At the conclusion of the original trilogy, depending on which ending you chose, Mass Relays across the galaxy were obliterated in one fell swoop. Without their Mass Effect charge, ships could no longer travel between systems in short order, all but dividing what was left of the remaining civilizations.

While it’s unclear just how much time is set to pass between the ME3 ending and this new game, artwork shared on N7 Day appears to reveal a Mass Relay station in development. MR7 is seemingly under construction, and just one central ring is half-built as ships carry in materials to help advance its progress.

With this label, it’s plausible at least six other stations are also either in development or completed at this point in time, perhaps bridging the gap between distant planets once again. Exactly who’s responsible for this great rebuild remains unclear, however, fine print in the bottom left corner may give us some idea.

Green Dagger Ltd. appears to be controlling the monitoring station miles out from the relay’s construction. There’s a good chance, then, they’re a vested interest and possibly in charge of the whole project. The captain of this particular ship is Sub-Navarch Soa’Rhai Zhillan-Jones. While this is a name we’ve not previously encountered, its styling is clearly reminiscent of the Quarian race. Given their penchant for technological innovation, having previously created the Geth, it would make sense for their people to help lead the charge of Mass Relay reparations.

For the time being though, this is obviously conjecture. We won’t know for certain until more details surface on the next Mass Effect project. While this N7 Day delivered something new, a more in-depth look at the game is being held “for another time,” director Mike Gamble said.