Fans Launch Petition to Save Mass Effect 5 - It Already Has More Than 100,000 Signatures

This week, Electronic Arts announced the shutdown of BioWare, a studio renowned for its RPGs and the developer of game series such as Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. As a result, the fifth installment of Mass Effect, which had been in development for several years, was officially canceled; however, after learning some details, some fans are calling for the iconic franchise to be preserved.

On social media and forums, users are sharing the hashtag #SaveMassEffect, and someone named Joe Smith even launched a petition on Change.org. Within a couple of days, it had already gathered more than 110,000 signatures—and that number is growing every day. Moreover, there are calls on social media for Xbox to acquire BioWare—but, as insider Tom Henderson noted, while this is a possibility, it could backfire on Microsoft, specifically because the studio could lose a significant amount of money if the game were released and failed to turn a profit. In any case, for now, all this talk is merely speculation.

WE'VE DONE IT! #SaveMassEffect has over 100k signatures in less than 72 hours.

A huge thank you to everyone who has signed and helped spread the word! Let's keep fighting to achieve our next goal of 200k. We can do this.

Sign the petition: https://c.org/rMVGzVb6WL

Most likely, the reason for this rapid increase in signatures was the leaked Mass Effect 5 trailer; it confirmed the project's scale and that the game was titled Mass Effect: Universe. Additionally, other details about the game have surfaced. Notably, a former BioWare developer stated the fifth installment was inspired by the work of Larian Studios (Baldur’s Gate 3) and CD Projekt RED (The Witcher) and would offer “a level of autonomy and choice that no other game has been able to match.”

For his part, an insider known as Dantics revealed that, in terms of the plot, the events of Mass Effect: Universe would take place roughly 600 years after the ending of the third installment, and Shepard’s legacy would endure regardless of the outcome. The protagonist was a customizable N7 agent, described as “a cross between James Bond and John Wick.” Mass Effect: Universe emphasized a wealth of detail, realism, and freedom of choice during missions, and, according to Dantics, “BioWare was making Mass Effect for us, for the fans.”