EA shut down BioWare on Wednesday, cancelling its upcoming Mass Effect game. And, after the trailer for what's now known as Mass Effect Universe leaked online, fans have started flocking to a petition in the hopes of saving the franchise.
The petition, #SaveMassEffect, was started on the same day as BioWare's closure, and has hit 52,783 signatures at the time of writing, surpassing the original goal of 30,000. Rather than asking EA to reinstate BioWare, the petition demands that EA either puts another studio in charge of the franchise and funds the next Mass Effect game's development, or license out the IP so it can live on.
The petition's author, Joe Smith, made the case for saving Mass Effect: "Mass Effect holds a special place in the hearts of millions of players worldwide. Its rich and immersive sci-fi universe, with Commander Shepard leading the iconic crew aboard the Normandy, has captivated gamers for years. However, recent revelations have cast a shadow over its future. The decline in dedicated resources and ambiguous development plans from Electronic Arts (EA) threaten to leave this beloved series at a standstill, jeopardizing its incredible legacy."
Unfortunately, these kinds of petitions normally fail to spark corporate U-turns. And while a former BioWare executive has suggested EA might be more likely to sell the BioWare IP after the studio's closure, analysts disagree.
When IGN asked industry analyst Joost Van Dreunen about the likelihood of BioWare's IP living on, he told us: "In many ways, BioWare's IP is in the same boat as some of the other studios we recently saw being divested. They are all well-known and too expensive for most buyers. Capable publishers like CD Projekt Red already have their hands full with their own projects."
Still, there is at least one politician who wants the Canadian government to help BioWare employees buy out the studio, which would theoretically allow development to continue on Mass Effect Universe. However, that is a bit of a longshot and would likely take years to play out.
While it feels unlikely that Mass Effect will live on, there is a lot of energy behind the effort to keep the franchise alive. Fans have taken to social media en masse to mourn the death of BioWare, and even if Mass Effect never returns, the spirit of the series will likely live on in games like Exodus and The Expanse: Osiris Reborn.
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