It’s always nice to see people come together in support of something they love.
Like Commander Shepard rallying the galaxy to fight the Reapers in Mass Effect 3, the Mass Effect community is now banding together to try and save the franchise after its upcoming game was canceled as part of EA shutting down BioWare last week.
Since the news came down that the work-in-progress title was canned, along with the layoffs of the remainder of the people working at BioWare, the community has been in an uproar. A dev who worked on the upcoming Mass Effect: Universe leaked concept footage of the game in action, and a YouTuber who was part of a “council” to give feedback revealed a slew of exciting details.
And in the process, the greater gaming community rallied to take action. A Change.org petition named #SaveMassEffect has now reached over 214,000 signatures and climbing, helped in part by support from Commander Shepard actors Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer.
“Join us in this mission to secure the future of the Mass Effect universe by signing and sharing this petition,” the petition states. “Let’s prominently illustrate to EA the significance of this iconic series and our collective demand for its continued journey across the stars. Sign today and keep the spirit of exploration alive!”
But it didn’t stop there. Mass Effect fan @KalaElizabeth has rented out a billboard in New York’s Times Square to spread the word. Even the devs behind The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, a 2027 title heavily inspired by Mass Effect, posted on Twitter/X in support of the petition in hopes that it will spur a change somewhere, anywhere, to keep the franchise alive somehow.
It’s clear that the franchise’s fans are not willing to go down without a fight despite EA’s decision to shutter it all. Will this outcry cause anything to change? Who knows, but this has been a year of gamers using their voices to speak out against all sorts of things, like PlayStation’s decision to end disc-based games in 2028, or Destiny 2’s end-of-service.
As a Mass Effect fan myself, I hope that EA feels the pressure to sell the IP to someone who will do it justice rather than let it rot.
