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's released his drafts online.

The award-winning composer behind Sword of the Sea, Journey, and a laundry list of other video games, movies, and shows revealed that he had been in talks to create music for the now-canceled Mass Effect revival in a post on social media. Whether he would have gone on to officially create music for what was in development under the name Mass Effect: Universe is unclear, but judging by the 22 minutes of audio published online for fans, it's clear there was some weight behind those early talks.

Wintory called Mass Effect an "all-time dream project" that never came to be. Any hope to continue working on the series seems to have been dashed, which is why any drafts he managed to drum up can now be found on YouTube. It's yet another sneak peek at a project that will likely never see the light of day, and unfortunately for the millions of Mass Effect fans still out there, it's quite good.

So here you go ... Thank you again to my friends at both BioWare and EA. To even dream in your sandbox was a privilege

https://t.co/wmq2N7s6Kp

— Austin Wintory (@awintory) October 26, 2026

"Working on Mass Effect 5 was my career's biggest dream project, my white whale," he said in the description of his YouTube upload. "It is my favorite 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)."

Wintory explained that it was during these talks his excitement led him to surprise EA and BioWare with an "elaborate production" consisting of 20 minutes of music for whatever the next Mass Effect would become. Its plot details were a mystery at the time, with the composer clarifying that the music we hear today is "just pure musical exploration."

Still, his past as a Mass Effect fan, which dates all the way back to the release of the original game in 2007, is pretty easy to feel. Wintory added that it was "fully recorded and produced with synths, vocals, and a large orchestra" in Los Angeles. It may have been reworked, rearranged, or maybe even scrapped altogether by the time an official release rolled around, but that didn't stop the composer from putting his heart into it.

"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," he added. "It's been hard to see dear friends lose their jobs, and this beloved franchise seemingly vanish forever."

In follow-up posts on social media, Wintory said he hopes his drafts do justice to the work of Wall and Hulick, calling his unofficial entry in the Mass Effect universe a "pure love letter." He added, "So here you go ... Thank you again to my friends at both BioWare and EA. To even dream in your sandbox was a privilege."

BioWare's demise has rocked the games industry. After decades of delivering some of the most groundbreaking stories gaming has ever seen, EA announced it would be closing the studio and canceling its Mass Effect 5 last week. Even if it's bittersweet, leaked materials have emerged in the wake of the studio's closure, giving everyone a peek behind the curtain not only at what could have been but just how far along development managed to get.

With a trailer for Mass Effect: Universe online and plenty of gameplay details there for fans to pour through, the franchise's community of sci-fi enjoyers has done what they can to fight for a revival. A petition garnering more than 230,000 signatures and a Times Square billboard are just the tip of the iceberg, and even if nothing tangible comes of it, their dedication remains as a testament to the impact BioWare and the developers it's housed over the years have had on millions.

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.