With two galaxy locations established in the series so far, fans wondered where the next game would take place, or even if it might span both regions in some way. There’s no doubt that the events of the Mass Effect trilogy greatly affected the Milky Way and changed its fate forever, but Mass Effect: Andromeda had just as much of an impact on the state of its own galactic setting. Details of Mass Effect 4’s setting, plot, and major characters are still sparse, but fans are able to recap on where the last game left off to try to work out where the next Mass Effect adventure might take them.

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Introducing The Andromeda Galaxy

Making the decision to move away from the Milky Way and all of the beloved characters contained within was a bold choice from BioWare, and was met with trepidation by some fans. While arguably this risky path didn’t actually pay off in the way the developers wanted, it did present players with lots of new content, with a whole other galaxy to explore and characters to get to know. The fluidity of the combat system in Mass Effect: Andromeda was also met with praise from gamers and critics, and there were elements of the game that proved to be popular even if on the whole fans were left disappointed.

After humanity along with the three other Citadel Council races executes its plan to populate a new galaxy as part of the Andromeda Initiative, players travel on sleeper ships known as Arks to Andromeda. Although the game initially starts in 2185, between the events of Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, the majority of Mass Effect: Andromeda takes place in 2819 after a 634-year journey aboard the human Ark. Andromeda is a vast and unknown galaxy when the small contingent of humanity arrives, and players are confronted with many challenges in the search to find their new home, including an antagonistic alien race called the Kett.

Many of the planets in the Andromeda galaxy are uninhabitable, and along with these new dangerous environments, the protagonist Ryder and their crew are thrust into the midst of a war between the menacing Kett and the beleaguered Angara. Although the number of new species in Mass Effect: Andromeda was disappointingly small in comparison to the intriguing and diverse inhabitants of the Milky Way, the Angara were an interesting new addition to the Mass Effect franchise, and by tying humanity’s fate to this race of aliens and having an angara on Ryder’s crew integrated the galaxy’s newcomers into their adopted home in an interesting way.

How The Events Of Mass Effect: Andromeda Shaped The Galaxy

Just as Shepard was a key figure in shaping the fate of the Milky Way in the Mass Effect trilogy, the Ryder twins are instrumental in the outcome of the Andromeda Initiative undertaken by the four main races of the Citadel Council. During the events of Mass Effect: Andromeda, Ryder not only defeats the Kett and stops them in their mission of galactic dominance, but they also activate the Remnant Vaults on several planets — ancient synthetic technology that terraforms previously uninhabitable planets into livable ones. As a result, the galaxy that players see at the end of Mass Effect: Andromeda is vastly different from the one they first encounter.

Not only have Ryder’s efforts allowed the Milky Way races to finally disembark fully from their Arks and begin to claim their new planetary homes, but the Council races have new allies in the Angara. The ability to harness the Remnant technology and affect ecosystems so drastically could mean other new technological advancements are on the horizon for humanity and their allies, just as the sentient races of the Milky Way were able to use Prothean technology to their advantage in the Mass Effect trilogy.

By the end of Mass Effect: Andromeda, Ryder and their crew have removed the major threat that plagued the galaxy, created multiple inhabitable worlds, and figured out the key to unlocking useful alien tech left behind by the mysterious race known as the Jardaan. Although many mysteries still remain by the time the game concludes, like the fate of a Quarian Ark and the true origin of the Scourge, the loose ends in the Ryder storyline are mostly tied up. However, players have wondered what part Andromeda will play in the next Mass Effect installment, and if any of the characters they were introduced to will make an appearance.

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What This Could Mean For Mass Effect 4

While fans of the series have been left desperately searching for clues in the teaser trailer, and hunting for hints in images released since the next Mass Effect game’s announcement, details are still sparse. Towards the end of 2021, it was strongly hinted that Mass Effect 4 will use Unreal Engine 5 — great news for gamers hoping for a good-looking sci-fi experience, particularly after the controversy surrounding Mass Effect: Andromeda’s graphics and animations. Other than this and a few other meager details, fans don’t know much about the upcoming game.

The timeline for Mass Effect 4 has been hotly debated. Although Liara, a fan-favorite character from the original Mass Effect trilogy, featured briefly in the teaser trailer, this does not necessarily confirm that other well-known characters will make an appearance. When players meet Liara in the first Mass Effect game, she is just over a century old — practically a teenager in Asari years.

As a typical Asari reaches their Matriarch phase at around 700 years old, gamers could be seeing a Liara that is several centuries old rather than the age she is at the end of Mass Effect 3. This would tie in nicely with Mass Effect: Andromeda’s timeline, as the journey to the new galaxy was over 600 years long, meaning this could potentially be a glimpse of a Liara in 2819 or afterward, concurrent with the events of the last game in the franchise.

An image released by BioWare also has interesting implications for the setting of the next Mass Effect installment, as it seems to show the silhouette of several key figures. Although not confirmed, the image appears to show the outline of a Salarian, a Drell, and an Angara. As the Quarian Ark, which carried with it 4,500 Drell passengers, never made it to the Andromeda galaxy in the events of Mass Effect: Andromeda, this casts doubt on whether this group of characters is in fact in that galaxy, even though an angara appears to be featured.

However, along with the hint from BioWare Project Director Michael Gamble that the two galaxies featured in the opening shot of the teaser trailer for Mass Effect 4 was very intentional, it seems BioWare is intent on including elements from both the Mass Effect trilogy and Mass Effect: Andromeda. As the “Destroy” ending in Mass Effect 3 is apparently now considered canon, it could be that races in the Milky Way have found a way to utilize left behind Reaper technology to enable faster intergalactic travel.

Additionally, the Andromeda residents are perhaps simultaneously undergoing their own rapid technological advancement thanks to Remnant tech. This would explain how the two galaxies could come together, allowing BioWare to use the stories established in both branches of Mass Effect lore to create the basis for the next game.

A new Mass Effect game is in development.

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