The gaming industry has delivered some more interesting gaming news today including a rather ominous update on the status of the next Mass Effect game and BioWare.
- Microsoft CEO Boasts Game Pass & Xbox Cloud Gaming Records, 4 Million Players for Indiana Jones
- Microsoft Gaming Revenue Declines 7%, Xbox Hardware Down 29% Year-on-Year
- Gran Turismo 7 Free January 2025 Update Adds Four New Cars & Three Race Events
- Roadcraft Launches for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC in May 2025
- Esports Organization Into the Breach Winding Down Operations After Embezzlement Scandal
- No Man’s Sky Does it Again With Massive Worlds Part II Update
- Fast Food Simulator Updates Fans on Future Content After a Busy December/January
- Capcom Announces Declining Sales & Profits but Expects a Winning Year Due to Monster Hunter Wilds
You can check out all the news below. Incidentally, if you’re interested specifically in flight simulation news, we have a dedicated roundup.
BioWare Restructuring While Focusing on Next Mass Effect
Today BioWare General Manager Gary McKay penned a message on the studio’s website indicating that the studio is restructuring while focusing on the next Mass Effect game.
Yet, the message certainly sounds ominous, indicating a game that has not yet entered full production and is being tackled with a downside studio, with “many” developers transferred to other studios within EA.
While layoffs following the poor performance of Dragon Age: The Veilguard are not directly mentioned here, IGN reports that a “smaller” number of employees has indeed had their roles terminated. You can read the full message below and judge for yourself.
“Today, we are turning towards the future and preparing for the next chapter in BioWare’s story. As we announced in August 2023, we are changing how we build games to meet the needs of our upcoming projects and hold ourselves to the highest quality standards.
Now that Dragon Age: The Veilguard has been released, a core team at BioWare is developing the next Mass Effect game under the leadership of veterans from the original trilogy, including Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, Parrish Ley, and others.
In keeping with our fierce commitment to innovating during the development and delivery of Mass Effect, we have challenged ourselves to think deeply about delivering the best experience to our fans. We are taking this opportunity between full development cycles to reimagine how we work at BioWare.
Given this stage of development, we don’t require support from the full studio. We have incredible talent here at BioWare, and so we have worked diligently over the past few months to match many of our colleagues with other teams at EA that had open roles that were a strong fit.
Today’s news will see BioWare become a more agile, focused studio that produces unforgettable RPGs. We appreciate your support as we build a new future for BioWare.”
Scar-Lead Salvation Announced by Compile Heart
Compile Heart announced Scar-Lead Salvation, a third-person shooter for PS5, PS4, and PC via Steam releasing in Japan on May 29. 2025. An English localization has not been confirmed just yet.
The game focuses on a woman who wakes up in a strange facility with no memories and no idea of why she is there. Her goal is to fight through the facility by using a variety of weapons (over 10) to defeat its mechanical guardians and avoid barrages of bullets. Yet death is not the end, as she is stuck in a loop
Steam Heart’s & Advanced V.G. Saturn Tribute Announced Alongside Farland Saga I & II
City Connection revealed a compilation including two Sega Saturn classics, the bullet hell shoot ’em up Steam-Heart’s and the 2D fighting game Advanced V.G., both originally developed by Giga and originally released on the PC-98.
It’s going to release on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in Japan on May 29, 2025. Only the PS5 and Switch versions are going to have physical retail releases and a localization has not been announced as of late. Above you can see a trailer and live stream with gameplay.
Interestingly, during the livestream, the publisher announced Farland Saga I & II Saturn Tribute, which is also coming in 2025 bringing back the strategy JRPG saga by TGL.
Cold War-Era Squad Shooter ’83 Gets New Trailer to Celebrate Return to Active Development
Blue Dot Games released a trailer showing the gameplay of ’83, a Cold War-era squad-based FPS with a rather complex history, aiming to be a spiritual successor to Rising Storm 2 Vietnam.
The game was originally developed by Antimatter Games, which was acquired and then closed by publisher Enad Global 7, causing the cancellation of the project.
Former developers Chris Rickard and Tony Gillham established Blue Dot Games and negotiated with Enad Global 7 the acquisition of ’83’s assets, with the goal of launching it on Steam early access this year.
