A fan petition asking EA to keep Mass Effect alive has picked up close to 180,000 signatures in just a few days. The #SaveMassEffect petition went up on Change.org on October 21, the same day EA shut down BioWare and ended early development on the next Mass Effect game. It asks EA to commit to continued development of the series with proper funding, staffing and time, or, if that's off the table, to license the Mass Effect IP to another studio that wants to carry it forward. The count is still climbing, and EA hasn't responded so far.
The petition grew out of a rough week for BioWare fans. EA is cutting around 400 jobs, roughly 50 of them tied to the canceled game, which a leaked trailer showed was going to be called Mass Effect: Universe. A content creator who says he saw the project during development has also shared what he claims are details about its story and setting. The licensing ask isn't entirely far-fetched, either. Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah has pointed out that EA owns all of BioWare's IPs, and that with nobody left working on them, EA might sell them off, or just bury them in the vault.
Of course, a petition carries no real weight with EA's new owners, a PIF-led investor group that took the company private in a $55 billion deal. Darrah describes EA as being in cost-control mode right now, since the deal reportedly left the company with around $20 billion in debt. A revival seems unlikely anytime soon, though close to 180,000 signatures does show there's still a sizable audience waiting for the next Mass Effect.
Source: TechPowerUp News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing