David P. Staggs

"The Music That Might Have Been" Austin Wintory, renowned composer behind games like Journey, releases 22 minutes of early Mass Effect 5 musical drafts from his pitch to compose the game: "Working on Mass Effect 5 was my career's biggest dream project, my white whale. 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). 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. 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." Full 22 Minutes ▶️ youtube.com/watch?v=dBO8s_Mc… #SaveMassEffect