Look, let us be honest: just as EA unceremoniously pulls the plug on developer BioWare and halts new projects, a trailer for the unannounced project 'Mass Effect: Universe' has somehow leaked into the wild.

The Mass Effect: Universe footage first made the rounds on Reddit, and according to reporting by Bloomberg and IGN, it is the real deal crafted by the actual development team. It appears the team put it together using early production assets before the studio was shuttered.

Leaning hard into a spy thriller vibe, the leaked footage shines a light on the galaxy post-original trilogy. Set centuries after 'Mass Effect 3' and far in the future once the war with the Reapers has wrapped up, you step into the boots of a military operative tasked with stopping a crisis before it spreads across the world.

Series icon Liara T'Soni even shows up to bail out the protagonist during a tavern brawl, alongside plenty of franchise hallmarks like relay-based space travel, onboard galaxy maps, alien races, biotic powers, and nightclubs. Word is that the geth and species from the Andromeda galaxy, romance options, and the return of a morality alignment system were also on the cards.

Meanwhile, BioWare closed its doors on the 21st, wrapping up 31 years of history. EA reportedly laid off around 400 people—about 3 percent of its total workforce—with the roughly 50 staff members assigned to the new Mass Effect project caught in the crossfire. That said, BioWare Austin keeps operations running to support other projects, and the Mass Effect TV series in the works at Amazon Prime Video will reportedly push ahead as planned.