After more than six years of teasers, delays, and half-joking April Fool's theories, Hollow Knight: Silksong finally arrived, and its release landed like a key turning in a lock that had rusted shut. For one longtime player, every session with Team Cherry's sequel is a joyride—beautiful, brutal, and occasionally humbling—but the real surprise is what it did to their patience for other long-awaited sequels. If Silksong can emerge from the void, then perhaps the next Mass Effect can too.

A Sequel That Refused to Stay Silent

Silksong was announced with a trailer over six years before it launched, then faded behind the curtain while Team Cherry kept working. Many fans assumed it had become an elaborate prank or a casualty of impossible expectations. Instead, the studio was simply having too much fun developing it—a better fate than a rough development cycle. When the game finally materialized, it proved that a long silence does not always mean a project is dead. Sometimes it means the creators are polishing something until it gleams.

The Elephant in the Gaming Room

That lesson matters because another sequel has been waiting in the dark. The Elder Scrolls 6 is the obvious elephant in the room, the one Todd Howard acknowledged years ago. Many players have learned to put it out of their minds until official news arrives. But there is a different sequel that has burned in the hearts of Mass Effect fans for even longer: the next Mass Effect game.

The next Mass Effect was teased more than five years ago, and Mass Effect 3 launched more than a decade before that. Mass Effect: Andromeda arrived in 2017, but it was a side story, not a continuation of the original trilogy. The next Mass Effect appears to be different. With Liara T'Soni positioned as its face, the project seems poised to pick up after Mass Effect 3 rather than after Andromeda. Whether it is called Mass Effect 4, Mass Effect 5, or simply Mass Effect, the distinction matters less than the promise: a return to the story that began with Commander Shepard and ended with a galaxy-changing choice.

The Canon Problem and the Cost of Hope

Continuing that story has always meant confronting the canonization problem. Mass Effect 3 offered multiple endings, and choosing one as official would make other players' decisions feel trivial. For years, that dilemma seemed like a locked door. Now, however, many fans have stopped caring about the lock. They want more Mass Effect, not more Andromeda, and Liara is one of the most beloved characters in the franchise. Seeing her headline the next chapter is enough to keep excitement alive.

The only problem is that excitement has been idling in a garage for years. The next Mass Effect has reportedly spent around five years in development, much of it in pre-production. BioWare and EA have also weathered layoffs and internal turbulence, which has made the road bumpier than anyone wanted. The wait for the next Mass Effect has become a sealed letter in a drawer: the ink still wet with possibility, but the address fading.

Why Silksong Changes the Mood

Silksong's release works like a thawing river, cracking the ice of cynicism that had frozen around other delayed sequels. Hollow Knight launched in 2017, and its sequel took over eight years to arrive. By comparison, it has been roughly the same amount of time since Mass Effect: Andromeda. That symmetry does not guarantee anything, but it does offer a strange comfort. A game is not canceled just because it is quiet.

Hope, in this case, is like a garden on a comet—beautiful, improbable, and impossible to schedule. Yet Silksong proves that improbable gardens can bloom. Team Cherry's sequel is not just a product; it is a signal that patience can be rewarded when a team is allowed to build something with care. If the next Mass Effect receives even half that devotion, the result could be extraordinary.

A Reason to Keep Waiting

As of 2026, the next Mass Effect still has not shown enough to calm every fear. BioWare's recent history has been rocky, and the industry's layoffs have made long development cycles even more precarious. But Hollow Knight: Silksong's arrival is a reminder that no game should be written off until it is officially canceled. It took over eight years after Hollow Knight for its sequel to materialize. The next Mass Effect has now been in that same waiting zone, and that at least gives fans a reason to keep looking toward the stars.

The galaxy may still be silent, but silence is not the same as emptiness. With Liara waiting in the wings and a legacy stretching back to Mass Effect 3, the next Mass Effect remains one of the most tantalizing possibilities in gaming. Silksong finally crossed the finish line. Perhaps Mass Effect will too.

In the meantime, waiting does not have to mean staring at an empty release calendar. Long gaps between sequels are a good excuse to revisit the games that made the wait worthwhile in the first place — replaying the original Mass Effect trilogy, finally finishing that RPG sitting in the backlog, or trying something new from a genre you have never touched. A slow year is often the best time to catch up, especially when older titles and hidden gems can be picked up for far less than a full-price release.

For players who would rather spend the wait exploring than refreshing rumor threads, sites like DealNest track PC game discounts across storefronts, making it easier to find a deal on something worth playing while the galaxy stays quiet. Whether you are rebuilding your Shepard or discovering a new world entirely, a cheaper way in makes the long haul a little more bearable.