Mass Effect petition passes 120,000 signatures after BioWare closure
A fan-led campaign asking EA to save Mass Effect has passed 120,000 signatures, but there is no sign yet that the publisher will reverse course.
Mass Effect fans have rallied around a petition calling on Electronic Arts to save the series, with the campaign passing 120,000 signatures on 24 October. The petition was launched after EA confirmed that BioWare was closing and that the next Mass Effect project had been cancelled, according to the campaign and reporting from Game Rant.12
The Change.org campaign asks EA either to resume development of Mass Effect 5 with adequate resources or to license the franchise to another studio willing to continue it. Its growth has been rapid: the petition was created on 21 October and had added tens of thousands of signatures within its first few days.1
That momentum shows how strongly the series still matters to its audience, but it is not evidence that EA is preparing to reverse its decision. A fan petition has no formal power over the publisher, and a signature total — even one in the low six figures — does not guarantee a change in strategy. EA has not announced that Mass Effect 5 is returning.2
The campaign also reflects the unusual position of Mass Effect. BioWare spent years discussing the next instalment and said in November 2025 that the project remained in development with a core team including veterans of the original trilogy. The reported closure therefore lands not merely as a delayed release, but as a sudden question mark over the future of one of gaming's most recognisable science-fiction universes.2
For now, the petition is best understood as a measure of fan reaction rather than a business development. Unless EA responds publicly or another studio confirms a concrete plan, the campaign cannot change the status of the cancelled project by itself.
Our opinion
The petition is news because its rapid growth captures a genuine reaction to a major franchise decision, not because a signature count makes a comeback inevitable. EA should be judged by what it announces next, rather than by the hopes attached to a campaign that remains entirely fan-led.