Mass Effect fans protest EA with Times Square ad and plans for The Game Awards

Mass Effect fans are calibrating their response (EA) Mass Effect fans are campaigning to save the franchise through petitions and adverts, including plans for The Game Awards. EA’s decision to close BioWare has left the Mass Effect franchise in an awkward limbo, but a group of fans are trying to save it. The company pulled the plug on the next Mass Effect game (known as Mass Effect Universe) last week, which led to an early trailer being leaked online. While it’s unclear if we’ll ever see another game in the series, an Amazon TV adaptation is supposedly still in development. Some hardcore fans, however, are trying to steer EA down the Paragon path by cementing a future for the franchise. A group, known as We Are Mass Effect on X, have set up a Change.org petition titled ‘#SaveMassEffect’ which has accrued over 245,000 signatures at time of writing. The petition’s organiser, Joe Smith, wants EA to ‘take decisive action by committing to the continued development’ of the series. Alternatively, if EA isn’t interested, they want the company to ‘consider licensing the Mass Effect IP to another studio that shares the passion and vision to keep it alive and allow it to flourish anew’. Want GTA 6 news? Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for the latest GTA 6 news, reviews of new games you should play and exclusive analysis of the biggest stories of the week. In its bid to save the franchise, organisers have also teamed up with illustrator Kala Elizabeth for a billboard in New York’s Times Square. The billboard carries the #SaveMassEffect slogan along with the phrase ‘Keelah Si’yah’ – the name of one of the colony ships from Mass Effect: Andromeda, which seems an odd reference to want to make given that game’s failure was the catalyst for the franchise’s current problems. The billboard was shown for 15 seconds every hour on Monday, October 26 (which surprisingly only costs around $150/£112), but one of the organisers, Mer Mora, has said they have plans for more adverts thanks to community donations. Speaking to Eurogamer, Mora said: ‘Apart from the Times Square billboard, we also have several other initiatives in the works. An advertising truck near EA’s headquarters in Redwood City and in Edmonton, a mobile billboard for N7 Day, and another one in LA for The Game Awards. All of them will carry a message in support of #SaveMassEffect.’ While EA doesn’t exactly seem like a receptive company in these situations, the continued existence of the Mass Effect TV show suggests they still have some interest in the IP. The campaign might also be lifted by the response to other leaked materials from Mass Effect Universe’s development. Following the trailer, Journey composer Austin Wintory has revealed he was in ‘serious conversations’ with BioWare and EA to score the game. While he wasn’t officially hired, Wintory has released 22 minutes of music he proposed for the project. ‘As part of the ongoing dialogue, I decided last year (2025) to surprise the folks with an elaborate production: nearly 20 minutes of music, fully recorded and produced with synths, vocals, and a large orchestra here in LA,’ Wintory wrote on a YouTube video. ‘I’d not yet learned any narrative details of what they were planning so this was just pure musical exploration.’ He added: ‘Receiving the news alongside everyone else that EA had decided to not only cancel the project but shutdown BioWare entirely was a deeply felt loss. It’s been hard to see dear friends lose their jobs, and this beloved franchise seemingly vanish forever. ‘Thank you nonetheless to everyone at BioWare and EA’s music department for gifting me the chance to dream in your sandbox. It was a privilege to do even that much.’ The closure of BioWare comes months after EA underwent a leveraged buyout for $55 billion (£41 billion) by a group of investors, led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). As a result, EA is now $18 billion in debt and so likely to lay off many more people in the future, beyond just BioWare. Mass Effect is no longer getting a new sequel (EA) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. Arrow MORE: Games Inbox: Is Marvel’s Wolverine an underrated video game? Arrow MORE: Hunter’s Moon review – English folk horror that’s just in time for Halloween Arrow MORE: Don’t expect EA to sell Mass Effect as one dev says ‘they just shut things down’ GameCentral Get the latest GTA 6 news, reviews of new games you should play and exclusive analysis of the biggest stories of the week.