BioWare's N7 Day update provides teases for the new Mass Effect game

It's November 7th, which means today is N7 today - chosen by the development team at BioWare to celebrate the Mass Effect series, given its connection to the iconic N7 armor worn by Shepard and the other top-flight humman commandos in the Mass Effect universe.

As part of the N7 Day festivities, BioWare has a new blog post up - and while it doesn't feature anything earth-shattering, just as with last year there's another glimpse at concept art and commentary from developers that will give fans a little glimpse at what might be up next in the Mass Effect universe. It's all framed by a statement from Mike Gamble, a Mass Effect series veteran and the Project Director of the as-yet untitled next Mass Effect game:

In the nearly 15 years since the release of the first Mass Effect, the biggest reason we still love working on it is the warmth, dedication, and passion of this community. There are some of you who have been with us through everything. We’ve grown together, sacrificed Ashley together, (Editor’s Note: Or Kaidan, Mike! We all make different choices.) faced difficulties together…and laughed until our Faces Were Tired…together! And for those of you who are new to Mass Effect (thanks, Legendary Edition!), welcome! I can promise that many years of fun, adventures, and characters you’ll fall in love with are still ahead.

Regardless of when you joined us, through four games and more expansions, I can say with certainty that we’re in this because of you, and every N7 Day is a wonderful reminder of that. As we look forward, each week is a fun and exciting challenge for the team. We love bringing this universe to life, and although there’s much more we want to share with you, that’ll have to be for another time.

For now, there is something we want you to have a look at. We’ve intercepted some strange footage from one of the monitoring stations in known space. It could be nothing, but…

The above concept art is attached to Gamble's message, and features a huge space construct that sure looks like it might be a new Mass Relay, but being built with the technologies of the species found in the Milky Way Galaxy.

In the original Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Relays were designed by an ancient race of aliens long since dead, and they were destroyed at the end of the trilogy regardless of what choices players made. The letters 'MR7' on the construct do seem to suggest that it might be the seventh man-made Mass Relay.

Text in the bottom left of the image also name-checks some characters and companies which we're pretty sure are all-new to the series. This could be nonsense, or this could be a first glimpse at some of the names of key players in the new game. On the blog post, a video version of the image can also be downloaded, featuring minor animation and movement.

Elsewhere in the post, there's news of Mass Effect Trilogy and Andromeda-themed t-shirts being added to The Sims 4, and a variety of Mass Effect merch newly released or discounted on various store fronts. There's also the introduction of some of the key development staff on the new Mass Effect including recent BioWare hire Mary De Marle, fresh off her success delivering compelling stories at Eidos on Deus Ex and Guardians of the Galaxy - which is an exciting addition to the team.

Mass Effect 4, or 5, or whatever you want to call it, is a while away. It seems like we'll first hear more about and play Dragon Age: Dreadwolf first - and then it'll be time to learn about the next Mass Effect. But each tidbit fuels speculation about what the game will contain...