Save Mass Effect petition passes 200,000 signatures after BioWare closure announcement
EA headquarters, Redwood City, May 2011. (Illustrative.) | King of Hearts; crop | CC BY-SA 3.0 | https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15153938 | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
A petition calling on Electronic Arts to keep Mass Effect alive has passed 200,000 signatures following the announcement that BioWare is closing. Change.org displayed 203,892 verified signatures when checked on 26 October, after separate reports from PC Gamer and GamesBeat tracked the campaign’s growth over the weekend.
The appeal comes after EA and BioWare confirmed on 21 October that early development of the next Mass Effect game was ending. The weekend’s new development is the scale of the fan campaign, rather than a new cancellation announcement. Neither the petition nor the reporting establishes that EA has agreed to reverse its decision.
The campaign asks for a future for the series
Organised by Joe Smith, the petition asks EA to support continued Mass Effect development with sufficient staff, funding and time. It also proposes another route: licensing the intellectual property to a different studio willing to develop it. The request is aimed at preserving the franchise’s future, rather than simply demanding that the same studio reopen unchanged.
PC Gamer reported more than 180,000 signatures on 25 October and described supporters sharing memories of playing the series, including experiences they had shared with family members. GamesBeat subsequently reported more than 197,000. Those are snapshots taken at different times; the changing total should not be mistaken for a disagreement about a fixed final count.
GamesBeat also reported the involvement of Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer, the actors behind the two voices of Commander Shepard. Their participation connects the campaign with performers closely associated with the games, but it is not an announcement of a new production, a new employer or a deal to transfer the franchise.
What EA and BioWare announced
EA set out the closure in a wider message about its development priorities. It said a small team had been working on the next Mass Effect and that it had decided against continuing that work. The decision includes closing BioWare and its Edmonton workspace, bringing the studio’s involvement in the project to an end.
In its own statement, BioWare thanked players and staff after more than three decades of development. It listed Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect and Anthem among the games that formed that history. The statement focused on supporting the team through the transition, rather than outlining a successor studio or replacement project.
The publisher’s broader plan concentrates investment on fewer simultaneous large action-adventure projects. EA said it remained committed to the forthcoming Marvel’s Iron Man and next Star Wars Jedi games. It also described changes elsewhere in its portfolio, including plans for Respawn and DICE to collaborate on a future project. These are EA’s stated priorities, rather than evidence that resources have already moved from one named game to another.
A signature milestone is not a restart
Change.org labels its total as verified signatures, but that is not an independently audited measure of future game sales. The campaign offers a visible way for supporters to ask for more Mass Effect; it does not supply a development budget or a licence agreement. Neither EA nor a development partner has announced a replacement project in the material reviewed, leaving the requested revival without a confirmed UK or US release window.