The gaming industry was rocked on October 21 when Electronic Arts officially announced the closure of legendary role-playing game developer BioWare after 30 years of operation. The sudden shutdown left the next installment in the iconic sci-fi franchise trapped in corporate limbo, sparking immediate anxiety among the fanbase. However, over the past week, devoted followers of the series have rallied together in a robust social media campaign titled #SaveMassEffect, hoping against the odds to rescue the project from permanent cancellation.
While the campaign faces immense challenges, history offers a glimmer of hope that passionate fan intervention can sometimes reverse corporate decisions. The closure of BioWare abruptly halted what had been a rocky decade for the celebrated franchise. During the early 2010s, the original Mass Effect trilogy solidified its place as one of the defining space operas in video game history, lauded for its rich lore, memorable companions, and deep emphasis on player-driven choices.
The momentum slowed considerably with the 2017 release of the spinoff Mass Effect: Andromeda. While players generally praised the game’s fluid combat mechanics, the narrative and characters failed to resonate with the community in the same way Commander Shepard’s original crew had. Consequently, EA placed the franchise on ice for several years, leaving fans wondering if they would ever return to the Milky Way or Andromeda galaxies.
Hope was restored in November 2020 when BioWare officially confirmed that a new Mass Effect game was in development, dropping intermittent teasers over the subsequent years. Early promotional material hinted that the project might bridge the narrative gap between Andromeda and the original trilogy. However, shortly after BioWare’s closure was announced, a trailer for the next project—purportedly titled Mass Effect: Universe—leaked online, revealing a dramatic tonal shift for the franchise.
Set 600 years after the events of the original trilogy, individuals familiar with the production likened the leaked concept to "James Bond meets John Wick in space." For a passionate community that had waited years for a true continuation, seeing glimpses of Mass Effect: Universe circulate online only intensified the heartbreak of its cancellation.
This scenario closely mirrors the trajectory of another beloved sci-fi masterpiece that faced premature cancellation before being resurrected by vocal fan outcry: The Expanse. Based on the acclaimed novels by James S.A. Corey, the television adaptation chronicled humanity’s colonization of the solar system, winning over viewers with a grounded, politically charged approach to science fiction that avoided fantastical elements typically found in space fantasy franchises.
In May 2018, the SyFy network canceled the television adaptation after three seasons. Fans immediately mobilized under the digital awareness campaign #SaveTheExpanse. Real-life astronauts joined the chorus on social media demanding the show’s return, and high-profile figures like author George R.R. Martin publicly threw their support behind the movement. Just months later, Amazon rescued the series, with founder Jeff Bezos personally announcing its revival for three additional seasons on Prime Video. The franchise has since expanded further, with Telltale Games releasing a narrative prequel in 2023 and Owlcat Games currently developing a third-person action RPG spinoff titled The Expanse: Osiris Reborn.
The #SaveMassEffect movement has mirrored that rapid mobilization over the weekend, capturing widespread attention across the gaming landscape. Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer, the iconic voice actors behind the female and male incarnations of Commander Shepard, respectively, publicly urged players to sign the petition. Owlcat Games also voiced its support, drawing a direct parallel to how fans saved The Expanse years prior. The campaign has even expanded into the physical world, with supporters securing digital billboards in Times Square to draw mainstream attention to the cause. As of this writing, the #SaveMassEffect petition has garnered more than 200,000 signatures, comfortably surpassing the 138,420 signatures accumulated by the final tally of the original #SaveTheExpanse petition.
Of course, fundamental differences remain between the two campaigns. Mass Effect is a massive interactive video game, whereas The Expanse was a television series, representing entirely different production pipelines and financial structures.
Even so, it is possible to estimate the financial commitment required to bring Mass Effect: Universe to completion. According to data from Glassdoor, the average game developer salary in Edmonton, Alberta, where BioWare was historically based, sits at approximately $70,000 CAD, equivalent to roughly $49,857 USD. Reports from Bloomberg indicated that BioWare employed approximately 50 people at the time of the studio’s shutdown. While unconfirmed, additional reports suggested that BioWare had been targeting a tentative 2028 release window for Mass Effect: Universe, implying that the project required roughly two more years of active development.
Calculations based on these figures suggest an overhead cost of roughly $5 million, which is comparable to the cost of producing a single episode of The Expanse during its tenure on SyFy, according to remarks from one of the show’s actors. While Amazon never disclosed the exact per-episode budget for the later seasons on Prime Video, viewers noted a distinct increase in production value after the platform transition.
Nevertheless, this basic financial estimation overlooks a potentially insurmountable hurdle that could halt the campaign entirely. When Amazon intervened to save The Expanse, the company already held the United States streaming rights for the series. By contrast, the intellectual property rights for Mass Effect remain firmly under the control of Electronic Arts. If EA ultimately decides against licensing or selling the intellectual property, there is little external stakeholders or fans can do to force a revival.
On the other hand, the Mass Effect intellectual property is not entirely closed off to external partnerships. A separate television adaptation based on the franchise is still expected to move forward despite BioWare’s closure, with Amazon attached as the producing studio. Whether that existing corporate relationship could eventually open doors for the gaming division remains to be seen as the fan community continues its push to save the canceled project.
