Canadian fans ask Ottawa to save BioWare as Mass Effect petition grows

Canadian fans have asked their government to step in and keep BioWare together as an independent studio. A petition on the official Canadian Parliament website asks for public funding so the studio can go independent and buy its intellectual property (IP), meaning the games, characters and worlds it owns, from Electronic Arts. VideoGamesChronicle reported the petition on 4 November 2026.

The petition also asks for Canadian game developers to be protected from American and foreign corporate interests in future. It states that BioWare has sold tens of millions of units of its video games worldwide. Only Canadian residents or citizens can sign it.

Electronic Arts, or EA, has announced the closure of BioWare, the studio behind the Mass Effect games. The closure was announced in October 2026, a few days before a separate report on a petition to save the series appeared.

That petition had reached 50,000 signatures within days of the closure, according to IGN. By the time of the most recent reporting, it had 299,618 signatures. Campaigners also paid for billboards in Times Square, New York, to promote the cause.

The campaign has also reached politics. Avi Lewis, leader of one of Canada's top opposition parties, wants the government to help save BioWare. According to Kotaku, his proposal would give BioWare's developers government funding to buy the studio and get back to making Mass Effect.

One thread continues regardless of the closure. The Mass Effect TV series remains in production, the same report confirms.