Citadel Archive SPECIAL: BioWare Has Died Before Shepard Reached the Citadel

On October 21, 2026, BioWare announced it was closing. EA also canceled the next Mass Effect.

This is particularly unfortunate because my Commander Shepard is still trying to get through the first game.

I started the Citadel Archive in April as a decision-by-decision playthrough of the entire Mass Effect trilogy under Modal Path Ethics. The first article spent thirty minutes selecting Shepard's character background. The second spent fifty-one minutes getting through the tutorial on Eden Prime.

BioWare managed to survive both articles.

Unfortunately, that was as far as we got.

The GOAT.

The original Mass Effect trilogy is among the greatest achievements in video games. Mass Effect 2 remains probably my favorite game ever made.

Dragon Age: Origins was a 10. Inquisition was a 10. Dragon Age II was kinda cool, at the time, and I'll stand on that, maybe.

I even liked Andromeda! Pretty good game!

Anthem tried.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard lost me about two-three hours in. I turned that one off and simply never returned. I cannot offer a complete review of a game I did not finish, but I can confirm it was extraordinarily successful at making me lose interest.

I still maintain that the subtitle Dreadwolf would have made it a much different, better game, somehow. BioWare magic.

And then, naturally, the trailer for the canceled Mass Effect: Universe leaked.

An N7 operative. Galactic intrigue. Something resembling a space espionage thriller after the Reaper War. People were talking about the Hitman series.

It was early pre-production footage, and there is no guarantee the finished game would have been another 10.

It still looked pretty cool, though.

The Citadel Archive Will Return.

I should probably explain the prolonged absence.

I have been working tirelessly on Modal Path Ethics, its sprawling series of research programs, books, software, and an increasingly obnoxious number of associated projects. I have barely had time to play video games.

I have, however, attempted to record the next Citadel Archive episode twice.

The first recording was accidentally erased.

Wrong folder, wrong time.

For the second attempt, I opened OBS, played the game for about two hours, and then noted I did not succeed in clicking Record.

I am a former videographer.

I would appreciate some privacy during this very difficult time.

In spite of this hardship, the series will return.

I still intend to follow Shepard across the trilogy, examining the decisions that actually change shit, the futures that survive them, and the extraordinary simulator for the agony of a commander that BioWare constructed.

There is still a whole galaxy waiting for examination.

More importantly, the games still exist.

Whatever happens to the company or the franchises, the work of the people who made them survives in millions of players' memories and save files.

The next Citadel Archive begins where Eden Prime ended: Shepard approaching the Council with a warning about an extinction-level threat, almost zero usable evidence, and absolutely no idea how difficult the next few years are going to be for him.

Assuming I press record all the way this time.

BioWare is dead.

The Citadel Archive lives on.