On October 21, it was confirmed that EA had shut down BioWare and canceled Mass Effect 5. In the days since, there has been an outpouring of support from the industry, a leaked trailer from a former employee, calls for the studio to go independent or be sold to another publisher, and a petition that is quickly gaining traction: #SaveMassEffect.
The petition, founded by Joe Smith, urges EA to "take decisive action by committing to the continued development of Mass Effect" with "proper funding, adequate staffing, and time allocation to maintain and advance the high standards the franchise is known for." Failing that, he calls on EA to license the Mass Effect IP to another studio that shares BioWare's passion and vision.
It has already hit over 50,000 signatures, and even has the backing of co-showrunner Daniel Casey, who shared the link to his Bluesky followers with the caption, "Keelah Se’lai" — by the home world I hope to see one day.
Bizarrely, while Mass Effect 5 has been canceled, the TV series on Prime Video is still going ahead. Should the show break into the mainstream zeitgeist a la Fallout, there will be no games to coincide with it,...
