I have a soft spot for sweeping sagas and smart science fiction. Ahead of this year’s N7 Day, it struck me how rare that combination has become in video games. Plenty of modern titles borrow from the spirit of Mass Effect — sometimes effectively (see Baldur’s Gate 3), sometimes less so (please, no more crude binary morality meters) — but most of those borrowings tilt toward fantasy roots. Since BioWare finished its original trilogy in 2012, nothing quite matches the scale and political breadth of a true space opera. I spoke with an industry analyst and a long-time PR professional to unpack why that kind of grand, galaxy-spanning storytelling has grown scarce; the reasons are broader than you might expect.
For the purposes of this piece, I use “space opera” to mean an expansive, multi-civilization tale of interstellar politics — not just a sci-fi setting. That rules out games that are sci-fi in flavor but narratively narrow, like Starfield or The Outer Worlds. Picture something more akin to a cosmic Lord of the Rings, the sweeping politics of Frank Herbert’s Dune, the mythic scale of Star Wars, or, yes, Mass Effect.
Image: BioWare/Electronic ArtsMat Piscatella, director of research at Circana, told Polygon that the scarcity of space operas reflects a wider retreat from large, narrative-driven projects in the industry, not simply a waning interest in sci-fi itself. He points out that many multiplayer and live-service titles — Helldivers 2, Warframe, Apex Legends — remain enormously popular, and recent launches such as Borderlands 4 and Arc Raiders show developers still have appetite for sci-fi-adjacent multiplayer fare. Even platforms like Fortnite and Roblox frequently dabble in space-themed events and content.
Sci-fi can still move units, then. Stephanie Tinsley, who runs Tinsley PR and has worked with small and mid-size publishers for nearly 20 years, echoes that view: marketing a sprawling sci-fi epic today faces the same noisy, crowded landscape as marketing any other high-ambition game. She stresses that the fundamentals haven’t changed — a distinct idea, excellent execution, and a unique selling point still matter — but it’s harder to cut through when major incumbents dominate so many genres.
Image: BioWare/Electronic ArtsTinsley adds that developers and publishers are more likely to bankroll and nurture ambitious single-player projects when a studio has a demonstrable track record and a publisher willing to let development breathe until the title reaches polish. That pedigree — a history of hits and a supportive publishing partner — still matters more than ever.
In the 2010s, many studios with the creative chops to produce large-scale narrative games diverted resources toward multiplayer and live-service models to chase broader audiences. Those gambles often didn’t pay off, triggering layoffs and departures of senior talent. A brief renaissance of small studios during the pandemic — fueled by cheap capital — faded for many teams as funding tightened and studios closed their doors.
Piscatella also notes that publishers tend to greenlight projects tied to known intellectual property. A recognized franchise reduces risk in an environment where even established players struggle to expand their audiences.
Image: BioWare/Electronic ArtsAnother constraint is source material. Over the past decade and a half, there hasn’t been an abundance of sprawling, franchise-ready sci-fi properties for studios to adapt into game-sized epics. Films like Interstellar and Ad Astra are compelling but inward-focused one-offs, while durable universes such as Alien naturally skew toward horror, making them a poor fit for sprawling political sagas. Even evergreen brands like Star Trek typically spawn smaller, more targeted games — for example, narrative pieces like Star Trek: Resurgence or free-to-play strategy titles like Star Trek: Timelines.
Recent Star Wars entries have also opted for narrower scopes. Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order marked a cautious re-entry into single-player territory for EA, favoring intimate, character-driven stories over galaxy-wide political machinations. Projects that once promised bolder ambitions — such as Quantic Dream’s long-rumored Star Wars Eclipse — remain distant, which may explain why many teams choose to build focused, tightly controlled narratives rather than sprawling epics.
Given these headwinds, it’s not surprising that the grand single-player epics still being produced often spring from established tabletop or genre IPs rather than original sci-fi universes. Larian’s rise was fueled by a tie-in to Dungeons & Dragons before the studio returned to original projects; CD Projekt Red pivoted from The Witcher to explore Cyberpunk; and Owlcat Games is anchoring its first action-RPG, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, to a well-known TV adaptation to reach a dependable audience.
In short, the cinematic, political space opera that Mass Effect epitomized is largely absent from today’s release slate — and, given industry economics, may stay that way for some time.
Source: Polygon
