Mass Effect spiritual successor drops 40 mins of footage as 'Save Mass Effect' campaign hits new milestone

Wizards of the Coast has released new footage for its upcoming sci-fi RPG Exodus.

Ever since its announcement at The Game Awards 2023, Exodus has been consistently compared to Mass Effect due to both franchises being sci-fi RPGs with lots of options in how to tackle combat and quests.

It also being helmed by former BioWare developers doesn't hurt either.

Following the closure of BioWare and cancellation of Mass Effect 5 though, Exodus has become fans' next best hope at getting a big budget space opera RPG to play.

Over the last year or so, Wizards of the Coast has been releasing new gameplay snippets of Exodus, giving fans a closer peep at what to expect from the upcoming game.

This has culminated in 40 minutes of new footage taken from an early mission titled Liberating the Kay being released.

Taking place towards the beginning of the game, this mission concerns a space station called the Khonsu being under siege, and the Kay, a species of Awakened Frogs, have called upon you for help.

Judging from the footage, the mission being shown off seems to be the same demo we played at Gamescom earlier this year. We get to see some exploration (which, similar to Mass Effect, is mostly linear but has a few moments where you can choose multiple routes to go), as well as combat and dialogue which all seem heavily inspired by BioWare's house style.

We also catch a glimpse of protagonist Jun's redesigned default appearance, which was recently changed following fan feedback from those who were unhappy with the design.

"For sci-fi fans, Exodus should scratch that itch that was left in the wake of Mass Effect, System Shock, and Dead Space which have not seen new entries in years," we said during our Gamescom hands-on demo preview. "However, for those who also enjoy RPGs with stronger character interactions like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, you’ll also feel right at home based on what I’ve seen so far."

'Save Mass Effect' reaches 250,000 signatures

This new footage of Exodus coincides with a new milestone for the 'Save Mass Effect' campaign.

Last week, Electronic Arts announced it would be shutting down BioWare and cancelling all projects currently in development. This included work on the next Mass Effect game, which is believed to be Mass Effect 5.

Fans of the series then rallied around a campaign to 'Save Mass Effect', launching a petition that received backing by Commander Shepard voice actors Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale, and has even funded billboards outside EA's offices promoting the campaign.

"Mass Effect holds a special place in the hearts of millions of players worldwide. Its rich and immersive sci-fi universe, with Commander Shepard leading the iconic crew aboard the Normandy, has captivated gamers for years. However, recent revelations have cast a shadow over its future. The decline in dedicated resources and ambiguous development plans from Electronic Arts (EA) threaten to leave this beloved series at a standstill, jeopardizing its incredible legacy," the petition reads on Change.org.

The petition recently passed 250,000 signatures, and currently has 277,828 names attached to it. As of right now, Electronic Arts has not commented on the petition or the campaign.