The Save Mass Effect campaign has a Change.org petition that GamesRadar+ says is about to cross 300,000 signatures and, VGC reports, billboards in Times Square. This week it also found a much smaller number that might matter more: 500.
That is the count of validated signatures a petition needs to reach Canada's House of Commons, according to Kotaku, which reports that a petition asking the Canadian government to help BioWare break away from Electronic Arts has passed it. Kotaku says that means the petition will be presented or tabled in the House, so there will be some kind of official response. GamesRadar+ also says the petition just reached a major milestone.
What the petition asks for
Kotaku reports the petition is sponsored by Parliament member Don Davies and came after Canadian politician Avi Lewis called for the government to help BioWare workers buy the studio and go independent. Its text, as quoted by Kotaku, makes three requests of the Government of Canada:
- Provide BioWare with "the capital necessary to secure independence of themselves and their intellectual property from Electronic Arts" and let it resume business as an independent Canadian company.
- Protect Canadian businesses and cultural institutions from being "dictated by American and foreign corporate interests."
- Champion "the values of inclusivity, tolerance, democracy, justice, and civil rights" by preserving BioWare's contribution to the global entertainment industry.
The argument is about culture as much as commerce. VGC quotes the petition calling BioWare "one of Canada's most important cultural exports to the world in the 21st century," with games that have sold tens of millions of units. It also describes the closure as "an immense loss to and possibly a targeted attack on Canada's cultural legacy." That is the petitioners' language, and neither outlet reports it as established fact.
VGC notes that anyone signing must be a Canadian resident or citizen. VGC put the separate petition to save the Mass Effect series at 299,618 signatures when it published, and GamesRadar+ says that Change.org effort is about to cross 300,000.
EA is still the catch
None of this changes who owns what. Kotaku points out that EA still owns BioWare and its IP, so any deal would need the company's cooperation and approval, and that EA historically doesn't sell its IP or studios.
VGC makes a similar point: when EA announced the closure last month, there was no mention of it looking for a buyer or offering BioWare the chance to buy itself out. VGC adds that it's unclear whether EA would cooperate even if the government took an interest, noting that the Mass Effect TV series is still going ahead and EA might have its own plans for the IP. GamesRadar+ agrees that selling the rights to another studio would be out of character for EA.
The background to all this is the reporting Kotaku cites that EA closed the studio and canceled the next Mass Effect after choosing to prioritize Star Wars: Battlefront 3.
A co-founder joins in
The campaign also picked up a notable voice this week. GamesRadar+ reports that Trent Oster, a BioWare co-founder best known for early RPGs including Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights, posted: "I love seeing all the energy around #SaveMassEffect. I think there is a still a great thesis for a well-funded RPG developer who can deliver. Makes me want to get some of the original band back together."
The same report says Oster seemingly agrees with a commenter arguing there's an RPG resurgence happening right now. GamesRadar+ quotes him on the current state of RPG development: "Seeing BG3 sales numbers may have had an effect." Nothing in the report says Oster has a project or a plan behind the post.
Oster's original post could not be checked directly, so his words appear here as GamesRadar+ reported them. This article relies on Kotaku and VGC for the petition's wording and signature milestone, rather than on the petition's page on the House of Commons site, which is not among the sources xarmo cites.
Riley's take: A petition can get an answer out of a parliament, but it can't get a signature out of EA. Still, there's something pleasingly on-brand about a campaign for a studio famous for branching dialogue finding a side path: nearly 300,000 signatures aimed at a publisher that may not be listening, and a bar of just 500 Canadian ones that gets the campaign in front of the House.
Reporting notes
