On Friday in Redwood City, California, a truck went for a slow drive around Electronic Arts' headquarters. It had no delivery to make. The truck was the delivery.
The mobile billboard belongs to the #SaveMassEffect movement, Kotaku reports, and it was booked to circle the publisher's offices for four hours, until 1 p.m. Pacific Time. Destructoid says it also went past the EA Sports headquarters. One of the organisers told Kotaku the driver would stay as close as possible without trespassing, which is about as polite as a protest on wheels gets. The group asked anyone nearby to send photos, and warned them not to go onto EA's property. The organisers' own posts on X couldn't be checked directly, so the account of the truck comes from Kotaku and Destructoid.
The truck was ordered by We Are Mass Effect organisers Ariel Aguilar and Mer, alongside content creator Kala Elizabeth, according to Kotaku. Kotaku ties it to a crowdfunding drive from last month, which raised money for billboards outside EA's offices and at December's Game Awards. One of those billboards has already gone up in Times Square.
Why this week
The date wasn't subtle. N7 Day, BioWare's annual celebration of the series, falls on November 7, and this year it arrives without BioWare. EA closed the studio on October 21.
Kotaku says it has become clear in the days since that BioWare had several licensing deals in place for new merchandise before the closure, and would likely have released a new tease for the cancelled Mass Effect: Universe. Destructoid makes much the same reading of the merchandise that has surfaced ahead of the day: it seemed BioWare had big plans. That is the outlets' inference. Nobody at EA has said so in the reports.
So the fans brought their own event, and parked it where EA's staff could see it.
Two petitions, two different audiences
The truck is the loud part of the campaign. The quieter part is on paper.
The Change.org petition asking EA for a new Mass Effect game has passed 300,000 signatures, PC Gamer and Destructoid report. A much smaller one is addressed to somebody else entirely. It asks Canada's government to give BioWare the capital to become independent of EA, and PC Gamer put it close to 3,000 signatures, while Destructoid says it has passed that mark.
That is well beyond the 500 valid signatures needed for certification. PC Gamer has now laid out what comes next. Once it is presented to the House of Commons or filed with the Clerk, the government must respond within 45 calendar days. Signatures stay open until March 4, 2027.
The petition's sponsor, New Democratic Party MP Don Davies, has also put his case on the record. "New Democrats want BioWare to stay in business, preferably under Canadian control," he told PC Gamer, adding that BioWare's employees should have the first opportunity to buy back their studio. On the money, he was just as direct: "The petition primarily asks the federal government to provide the required capital. This is absolutely possible."
PC Gamer is less sure. It notes that the NDP isn't in power, and that EA has shown no interest in selling. Kotaku agrees that any deal would need the publisher's cooperation. A government can answer a petition, but it can't buy what isn't for sale.
That leaves the campaign where it started, with a large number of people addressing a company that hasn't been answering in these reports. On Friday, at least, they found a way to do it from the street.
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