EA shut down BioWare, laid off its staff, and canceled the in-development Mass Effect: Universe in October. That news sent shockwaves throughout the industry and through the communities that have sprung up around BioWare’s games. Mass Effect fans were hit particularly hard, and have started a petition to save Mass Effect.
Some even purchased a time on a billboard in Times Square to advertise it. Fans have tangled with a mix of emotions knowing that it’s unlikely they’ll ever get to play a new BioWare-developed Mass Effect again. But, if you ask the voices of Commander Shepard, they’re oddly optimistic about the future despite the circumstances.
Polygon recently spoke to Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale, the voice actors for Shepard, about the strength of Mass Effect’s community, the closure of BioWare, and the studio’s legacy. After gutting the studio a year ago, EA laid off BioWare’s remaining around 50 employees on Oct. 21, bringing an end to its 30-year legacy. Meer noted that BioWare was a source of pride in Canada, and especially in Edmonton, where the studio was based.
Canadian fans are even petitioning their government to save BioWare, and that petition will be presented in the House of Commons, meaning the Canadian government will formally address it in some way. Their games bucked against tradition and [BioWare] did it their own way, quietly, but excellently. And they moved us forward, not by shouting and preaching, but simply by doing it in a very cool way.” Hale was once overtaken by a wave of sadness about BioWare, but hers occurred some 20 years prior, when the studio was acquired by EA, which meant it became beholden to the whims and projections of shareholders and was no longer able to operate independently.
EA’s 2025 sale to private investors, including Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, only further clashed with “the original spirit of BioWare,” as Hale put it. (BioWare reportedly was asked to remove LGBTQ-adjacent imagery from a video presentation, for example.) “So, when I heard about the closure, I got wildly hopeful,” Hale said, acknowledging that optimism “sounds weird” at this moment. Like in her initial reaction to the closure, Hale described her optimistic vision for the future, one where EA is willing to part with the Mass Effect IP and that the fans “come together to own this IP as kind of a Mass Effect collective for the fans by the community, because there's some incredible devs in this community, incredible creators.” Much has been made of if EA will sell off BioWare as a way of paying off the debt it’s taken on as a result of its sale. Though BioWare is closed, all its assets and franchises — from Mass Effect to Dragon Age to Jade Empire — still belong to EA.
Former BioWare executive Mark Darrah thinks it’s possible EA could sell off BioWare IP, while former technical director Romain Toutain thinks it’s unlikely EA would sell anything. Regardless, that won’t stop people like Hale and Meer from hoping. Fans are still sharing their grief and love online, and the Shepards have noticed.
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