Former BioWare employee Christina Norman believes that Mass Effect 5 could be made on a budget of around $50 million. As an example for developers, she points to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
The discussion began following a statement by BioWare co-founder Trent Oster. He suggested that Mass Effect 5 would require more than $200 million. Among the reasons cited were high fan expectations, as players want an RPG on par with the biggest AAA projects.
Norman, who worked on the first Mass Effect as lead cinematic programmer and contributed to game and systems design on the second and third installments, disagreed with this assessment.
As an argument, she cited budget data for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 by Sandfall Interactive. According to the report referenced, developing the game cost less than $10 million. In the former BioWare employee's opinion, even five times that amount should be enough to create a new Mass Effect.
She believes that creating a quality RPG does not necessarily require assembling a massive team or having unlimited financial resources.
However, the main issue lies in the future of the franchise itself. The rights to Mass Effect still belong to Electronic Arts, making independent development of a new installment seem unlikely.