Next Mass Effect is playable, BioWare calls it "fresh but recognizable"

The next Mass Effect game is playable and development on the project is progressing positively, BioWare general manager Aaryn Flynn said today on Twitter.

"Great time playing the next Mass Effect game in Montreal. Ambitious. Beautiful. Fresh but recognizable. And fun!," Flynn said.

This is the first official update on the game's progress since BioWare shared the game's first images on Mass Effect celebration event N7 Day last month. We still don't know much of anything about the game's plot, but BioWare said last week that it will share more details in 2014.

BioWare announced the next Mass Effect game in September 2012. It will not feature Commander Shepard, as his story came to a close in last year's Mass Effect 3. The untitled game will run on the Frostbite 3 engine and, according to executive producer Casey Hudson, will be "fresh and new."

In addition to the new Mass Effect game, BioWare is working with Legendary Pictures on a Mass Effect feature film, though no release date or casting details have been divulged.

BioWare is also working on a brand new franchise, which will deliver "something new, the way we did at the very beginning of Mass Effect," Hudson said in March.