Over 200,000 fans have signed an online petition to save Mass Effect.

This movement began late last week, after BioWare's closure had been confirmed. The developer had been working on the next Mass Effect — seemingly codenamed Mass Effect Universe — but unsurprisingly, the project is now cancelled.

"The decline in dedicated resources and ambiguous development plans from Electronic Arts (EA) threaten to leave this beloved series at a standstill, jeopardizing its incredible legacy," reads the aforementioned petition, which is live on change.org.

So what's the petition actually asking? Well, it attempts to appeal to EA directly, providing the publisher with a choice: either allocate new resources to Mass Effect's continuation (presumably without BioWare), or license the property out to another studio.

The post continues: "Both solutions offer a way forward. By ensuring the ongoing expansion and enhancement of the Mass Effect universe, EA would not only preserve a cherished piece of gaming history but also continue to contribute to the cultural and emotional impact it has on gamers worldwide."

It goes without saying that Mass Effect is a beloved franchise — it's one of my all-time favourites, too — but it's unfortunately difficult to imagine a world where EA tries to revitalise it after culling its developer.

Remember, this is the new EA — a now privately owned company, the owners of which are in the process of 'streamlining' its operations from top to bottom. They're looking to cut costs across the board, not branch out.

And they'll almost certainly argue that Mass Effect simply doesn't have the necessary appeal to warrant continued investment.

The original trilogy was obviously huge back in the PS3 / Xbox 360 era, but you could argue that the property as a whole has been irrelevant for over a decade.

The incredibly divisive Mass Effect: Andromeda ultimately damaged the brand, and at this point, I'm just eternally grateful that we got Mass Effect Legendary Edition before BioWare was shuttered.

Still, it's nice to see fans come together for something like this. It'll be interesting to see just how many signatures the petition gets over the coming days and weeks.

Do you want Mass Effect to continue?

[source change.org]