author: Michael Zegar
Shepard's Return in Mass Effect 5 Possible? Gadget Description Gives Food for Thought [UPDATED]
A youtuber noticed that the description of one of the gadgets advertising Mass Effect 5 includes a mention of Shepard, which may suggest the return of the protagonist of the original trilogy. BioWare quickly changed the item's description.
Warning! The text contains spoilers from previous installments of Mass Effect.
Update
A few hours ago, the head of BioWare's production team designer Michael Gamble commented on Twitter about the whole incident:
Yes, this was a mistake. We have already corrected it.
The original lithography description was written by people who run the store and are not familiar with the game.
Original message
During the recent N7 Day - the annual celebration of the Mass Effect series fans - BioWare has prepared a poster advertising Mass Effect 5 (working title). We can see a crater, a ship and four characters on it. A Youtuber known as MrHulthen spotted yesterday that the developer's gadget shop offers a lithograph to hang on the wall, which depicts the aforementioned illustration.
Original lithograph description
This lithograph is entitled "The Future". It costs about 45 USD and is limited to 400 pieces. However, the most interesting part is, or rather was, as it has already been changed by BioWare employee, its description. Fortunately MrHulthen captured the original version on his video, which reads:
"Shepard's final mission appears to have ended the threat from the Reapers, albeit at the cost of many lives and Earth itself. As Shepard and other survivors are left to pick up where they left off, fans are left wondering what comes next."
Will Shepard return in ME5?
The above description may foreshadow that Shepard will appear in the next part of the game. So far, it hasn't been revealed who we'll be playing as in Mass Effect 5. BioWare is probably trying to save this surprise for a big event like the next N7 Day.
New lithograph description
The change in the lithograph's description - which could have potentially revealed something prematurely - a few hours after MrHulthen published the video in question indicates that something may indeed be afoot. Indeed, the new version of the descriptor in the same place reads:
"The threat from the Reapers has been averted, albeit at the cost of many lives and Earth itself. As the remaining survivors are left to pick up where they left off, fans wonder what will happen next."
Source: https://twitter.com/masseffect/status/1457467946461188100.
Mistake? Or is there something to it?
Of course equally likely case - and perhaps most likely - is that the original version of the description simply contained a mistake and that's why it was changed.
The next N7 Day will be November 7, though it's possible that more details about the game will be revealed before then - or that we won't learn anything this year, since the project remains in early production. Mass Effect 5 is to be powered by Unreal Engine 5. The title is coming to PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5. The release date is unknown.
Five surprises
At the end the rest of the lithograph's description is also worth quoting. This part has not been changed. It reads:
"A krogan and his team of four walk towards a crater shaped like Geth, where a ship resembling the Normandy is located, with the words "SFX" visible on either side of it.
All this, along with hints from BioWare CEO Gary McKay about "at least five" hidden surprises on the poster, will make this lithograph great material for study, discussion, and endless pondering."
