A new trailer for BioWare's in-development Mass Effect game was shown at The Game Awards 2020. The trailer has kickstarted a blaze of speculation regarding the nature of the Mass Effect game. Fueling the fire is the new Mass Effect's project director, Michael Gamble. One specific topic appears to have caught his attention: A mysterious Mass Relay shown in official BioWare concept art was pointed out by Gamble as something worth further consideration.
A conversation was being had regarding what the new Mass Effect trailer revealed on social media today. Wushu Studios Communications Manager Nate Najda gave a summary of his thoughts on Twitter, which meandered to the possibility of the Mass Relays that were destroyed in Mass Effect 3 being rebuilt. Najda linked a photo of the official BioWare: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development book. The image, said to be from the new Mass Effect, shows a strange Mass Relay with the ID number MR7.
This is where Gamble enters the conversation, as he decided the shared image was too low quality and offered up the official art asset on Twitter. Alongside that, he also dismissed Najda's theory regarding what the Mass Relay might be. The implication is that this structure is important, and that there's more than meets the eye.
Gamble further fueled speculation, responding to another Twitter user. Tom Phillips of Eurogamer asked "why is a new relay being built," noting that the damaged ones from the Reaper war had been repaired. Gamble's response was, "A most excellent question." This Mass Relay may be different in nature to the other mass relays, performing a different action. It also begs the question of why are there potentially seven of them.
Some theories so far include the MR7 Mass Relay being related to time travel. A lot of Mass Effect fans would love to be able to go back in time and save Shepard. Another idea is that these new relays may be part of a much bigger structure. Many call this the Death Star Theory, as these new Mass Relays could transport a planet-sized ship -- or even a planet -- around. A third, simpler theory is that the relay is being built into a ship, so that it has the ability to travel the universe.
While Gamble is teasing fans, he's still keeping BioWare's secrets. This piece of concept art has been available publicly via the new BioWare book, after all. He's just hinting that it may be worth paying attention to, especially in relation to the new Mass Effect trailer. However, that's something Mass Effect fans were doing plenty of already.
Mass Effect is in development.