Mass Effect 5 composer shares his 'goodbye' score for cancelled game

Sam Hulick, a composer for the original Mass Effect trilogy, has released his own rescored version of a leaked internal trailer for the cancelled Mass Effect 5. He published the track on N7 Day, per Rock Paper Shotgun.

Hulick wrote in a Patreon blog that he re-scored the leaked trailer "as part of my own closure, and as a love letter to the fans." He said the original trailer used a track called "Quartz" by French 79, which hinted at a new musical direction for the series.

The composer revealed that BioWare had actually contacted him earlier this year about potentially working on an internal demo for the project, which was seemingly called Mass Effect Universe. He said he was asked to help create music that would "feel like Mass [Effect], supporting our new direction."

Hulick shared some of his ideas for the soundtrack, telling Rock Paper Shotgun he wanted to bring in more songs with lyrics. He named artists like Gunship, NINA, and The Midnight as potential collaborators, citing their "moody, cinematic synthwave vibe."

With EA shutting down BioWare and cancelling the game, none of those plans will come to pass. Hulick called the news particularly hard, stating the Mass Effect trilogy is "a core part of my origin story as a composer." He described his rescored trailer as his "way of saying goodbye… at least for now."