Austin Wintory, the Grammy-winning composer behind Journey and Sword Of The Sea, has shared 20 minutes of music he created for the scrapped Mass Effect 5soundtrack.
The original Mass Effect was released in 2007 and two sequels followed in 2010 and 2012. Across the beloved trilogy, players take control of Commander Shepard on a quest to stop the destruction of the universe at the hands of The Reapers. Mass Effect: Andromeda followed in 2017.
Earlier this month, game developers BioWare confirmed that they had started work on Mass Effect 5 but that project was being scrapped and the studio was being shut down by EA. “What generations of BioWare built together is something to celebrate and remember. These games became so much more because you played them, debated your choices, fell in love with the characters, and made these worlds your own.”
Following the news of Mass Effect 5’s cancellation, one ex-BioWare employee shared a work-in-progress trailer of the new game and more than 249,000 people have signed a petition asking EA to “take decisive action by committing to the continued development of Mass Effect” or allowing another publisher to take over the IP.
Now Austin Wintory has shared his pitch for the Mass Effect 5 soundtrack.
“Working on Mass Effect 5 was my career’s biggest dream project, my white whale. It is my favourite franchise of all time, and for the last couple years I’d been in serious conversations with BioWare and EA to jump in. My suggestion was to treat the original game’s masterful Jack Wall / Sam Hulick score as a starting point, and to build on it from there with deeper use of physical, analog synths and a more tightly interwoven use of the orchestra. But a love letter first and foremost (not unlike my approach to the Aliens franchise with Fireteam Elite),” he explained.
So here you go … Thank you again to my friends at both BioWare and EA. To even dream in your sandbox was a privilegehttps://t.co/wmq2N7s6Kp
— Austin Wintory (@awintory) October 26, 2026
“As part of the ongoing dialogue, I decided last year (2025) to surprise the folks with an elaborate production: nearly 20 minutes of music, fully recorded and produced with synths, vocals and a large orchestra here in LA. I’d not yet learned any narrative details of what they were planning so this was just pure musical exploration” Wintory continued.
“Receiving the news alongside everyone else that EA had decided to not only cancel the project but shutdown BioWare entirely was a deeply felt loss. It’s been hard to see dear friends lose their jobs, and this beloved franchise seemingly vanish forever. Thank you nonetheless to everyone at BioWare and EA’s music department for gifting me the chance to dream in your sandbox. It was a privilege to do even that much.”
Despite the shutdown of BioWare, the TV adaptation of Mass Effect is still going ahead, according to IGN sources.
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