Last week, EA announced its plan to shut down BioWare, the studio behind the Dragon Age and the Mass Effect series, permanently. Immediately after EA's statement, internet user Joe Smith started a Change.org petition to save Mass Effect. In the petition, the author proposes licensing the Mass Effect IP to another studio if EA itself is not planning to keep the series going.

In the first 3 days, the petition gathered 100,000 signatures, and now it stands at over 210,000. "The potential cessation of new developments in this universe is a devastating prospect not only for fans but for the diversity of narrative-driven games as a whole," Smith states in the petition, referring to what was anticipated to become Mass Effect: Universe, the fifth major installment in the series. 

A day after EA announced BioWare's shutdown, an alleged trailer for Mass Effect 5 was leaked, showing a new protagonist operating within a Milky Way repairing the damage caused by the Reaper War. Also, following the heartbreaking news, BioWare's cinematic supervisor Tony de Waal added that the fifth game was supposed to have "a level of autonomy and choice that no other game has been able to match," and the Mass Effect 5 team was "making something special."

Considering that the fifth game was originally announced at the 2020 Game Awards and had been in development ever since, a significant amount of BioWare's work-in-progress essentially goes to waste with EA's decision. Commander Shepard voice actors Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer took it to Instagram Live to express their thoughts on the abrupt cancellation of one of the most monumental projects in both EA's and BioWare's portfolios. 

"It's really hard to think about BioWare being shut down, but it was in the hands of ownership that may not have understood what BioWare fully is. But maybe someone could grab hold of these IPs and do something with them. I don't know if that's possible, but that's where my heart sits," said Jennifer Hale. 

Both voice actors then expressed their support for the #SaveMassEffect initiative on Twitter, encouraging gamers to sign the petition.

The first serious alarming signs of Mass Effect 5 being pushed to the sidelines surfaced in 2025. At that point, the game had been in development for over 4 years, yet Mass Effect's Executive Producer Michael Gamble shared that it was still in its pre-production stage on Twitter.

The petition aimed at preserving the legacy of the Mass Effect series and continuing its expansion despite the BioWare closure is still open for signing. You can find it here. Keep track of the latest updates on the fate of Mass Effect 5 with us: subscribe to our Newsletter, join our 80 Level Talent platform, Discord, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Instagram, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

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