Music for a Canceled Project
Composer Austin Wintory was once in talks to make music for Mass Effect 5. Now that EA has shuttered BioWare and canceled the game, he has released his drafts online.
The award-winning composer behind Sword of the Sea, Journey, and numerous other video games and media revealed that he had been in talks to create music for the canceled Mass Effect project in a post on social media. Judging by the 22 minutes of audio published online, there was substantial weight behind those early discussions.
Wintory called Mass Effect an all-time dream project that never came to be. Any hope to continue working on the series has been dashed, which is why the drafts he managed to create can now be found on YouTube.
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
A Composer's Vision
Working on Mass Effect 5 was a major career dream project, Wintory noted in his YouTube upload. His suggestion was to treat the original game's score by Jack Wall and Sam Hulick as a starting point, building on it with physical, analog synths and a tightly interwoven orchestra.
Wintory explained that his excitement led him to surprise EA and BioWare with an elaborate production consisting of 20 minutes of music for the next Mass Effect entry, clarifying that the music heard today represents pure musical exploration.
The music was fully recorded and produced with synths, vocals, and a large orchestra in Los Angeles. While it may have been reworked or scrapped by the time of an official release, the composer put significant effort into the production.
Studio Closure Fallout
Receiving the news alongside everyone else that EA had decided to cancel the project and shut down BioWare entirely was a deeply felt loss, Wintory added, noting the impact of friends losing their jobs and the franchise vanishing.
In follow-up posts, Wintory expressed hope that his drafts do justice to the work of Wall and Hulick, calling his unofficial entry a pure love letter and thanking his contacts at BioWare and EA.
BioWare's closure has impacted the games industry significantly following EA's announcement to close the studio and cancel Mass Effect 5. Leaked materials have emerged in the wake of the closure, providing a look at development progress.
Community efforts have mobilized following the cancellation, including petitions and fan campaigns, demonstrating the lasting impact of the studio and its developers over the years.
For more, you can see how BioWare left a mark not only on players but other game developers, too. You can also read an opinion piece from IGN's Matt Purslow, which explained why EA never knew what it had with BioWare.
