Mass Effect petition tops 187,000 signatures

A petition urging Electronic Arts to keep the Mass Effect franchise in development or license it to another studio had gathered more than 187,000 signatures by October 25, as fans sought to preserve the series after the reported closure of BioWare and cancellation of Mass Effect 5. The Change.org campaign, called SaveMassEffect, was created by Joe Smith on October 21, according to reporting on the petition. Its displayed signature count rose from nearly 100,000 within its first 48 hours to more than 121,000 by the morning of October 24, then surpassed 187,000 the following day. The figures are snapshots from different times, not a measure of EA’s response. The petition does not ask EA to reverse BioWare’s closure. It calls on the company to commit to continued Mass Effect development with adequate funding, staff and time, or to consider licensing the intellectual property to another studio. The petition says fans have invested in the franchise’s characters and stories and argues that ending new development would affect both its community and narrative-driven games. EA’s announcement that it was closing BioWare and canceling Mass Effect 5 was reported no later than October 21....