Former Mass Effect director’s studio shuts down, new sci-fi game axed

The tough times in the videogames industry show no signs of letting up as a promising studio has announced it’ll be shutting its doors before its debut game even sees the light of day. Humanoid Origin, the studio founded in 2021 by Casey Hudson, the former director of the Mass Effect trilogy, has confirmed it will be closing, and that means development on its upcoming triple-A sci-fi game is also ending.

With 20 years of experience at BioWare, Casey has led the charge on three of the best space games ever made with the Mass Effect trilogy, alongside the likes of Anthem and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. However, after leaving BioWare for a second time, he spun up his Humanoid Origin and announced that it would be developing a “multiplatform AAA game” focused on “character-driven narrative in an all-new science-fiction universe.” From that description alone, it certainly felt like it would be something of a spiritual successor to Mass Effect, or at least share plenty of DNA with the brilliant RPGs.

However, in a post on LinkedIn today, November 25, Humanoid Origin announced that it would be closing.

“Earlier today, we informed our staff that Humanoid Origin will be shutting down,” the post reads. “Despite efforts to shield the studio from broader challenges in the industry, an unexpected shortfall of funding left us unable to sustain operations.

“We’re heartbroken that we will not be able to bring our new science-fiction universe to completion. Our main concern at this time however is for our team, and we are committed to supporting them in their transition to new employment.”

The statement also says that the studio “achieved incredible progress” since its formation three years ago. However, aside from some pieces of concept art, we unfortunately never got to hear more about its debut game, see a trailer, or even learn its name.

Even though BioWare is now full steam ahead on the next Mass Effect game, post-Dragon Age The Veilguard, series fans would’ve absolutely jumped at the chance to enjoy a “character-driven narrative” in a brand-new sci-fi universe, spearheaded by one of the series’ co-creators. The concept art alone looked pretty enticing, and it’s such a shame that we’ll never get to experience that world ourselves.

It’s also gutting to see yet more talented developers getting put out of work. Humanoid Origin joins the likes of Firewalk Studios (Concord), Arkane Austin (Redfall, Prey), and Ready at Dawn (The Order: 1886, various God of War titles) on the list of developers to completely shut their doors in 2024. Of course, dozens of other studios have made layoffs to their workforces without making full closures, including Riot, Epic Games, and many more. The Games Industry Layoffs tracker estimates that over 14,000 people have been laid off since the beginning of the year.

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