Mass Effect 5 would have let players generate alternate timelines based on their choices in previous games, according to the series' technical director

Romain Toutain, BioWare's Franchise Technical Director, revealed during a Twitch stream that the canceled Mass Effect 5 game would have allowed players to generate alternate timelines based on their choices from previous games in the trilogy. The game, nicknamed "Mass Effect Universe," aimed to combine all possible endings from Mass Effect 3, creating a galactic Cold War setting.

Toutain explained that the developers were working on a system that accounted for every choice made in the original Mass Effect titles, enabling players to generate timelines and explore different outcomes, akin to the choice system in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. The system used stateful technology to pause the game and analyze the game state and potential consequences of player decisions.

He provided an example where the game would ensure that players could complete missions or adjust the narrative to maintain continuity. Toutain emphasized that the ultimate goal was to grant players absolute autonomy within the game world. This ambitious concept remains unfulfilled due to the game's cancellation.