November 7 is N7 Day - or Mass Effect day - and with that BioWare has provided a little update on the development on the next game in the franchise. With word that "pre-production development has been proceeding very well" it sounds like the project is still early on (BioWare's next game will be the return of Dragon Age) - but we've got a new bit of concept art.

And the N7 Day 2022 blog post does outline some of the key talent working on the game. Here's the new concept art with commentary from Project Director Mike Gamble.

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 image was presented alongside a recording, hinting at some sort of extra-terrestrial signal factoring into the story.