Fans turned their anger into cash fast, and now EA's headquarters, EA Edmonton, and The Game Awards are all getting billboards.
The Save Mass Effect billboard fundraiser launched on GoFundMe on October 27, 2026, and blew past its $5,200 goal in under 15 minutes, pulling in roughly $5,715 from 89 donors who want Electronic Arts to rethink its decision to shut down BioWare and cancel the next Mass Effect game.
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Save Mass Effect billboard fundraiser raises cash in minutes
The Fans Trying To Save Mass Effect Just Paid For A Billboard In Times Square - Kotaku https://t.co/uJpMiLBYai
— Kotaku (@Kotaku) October 26, 2026
The group behind the push, operating online as @WeAreMassEffect, set up the GoFundMe to pay for mobile billboards outside three key locations: EA's headquarters in Redwood City, EA's Edmonton office, and The Game Awards show in Los Angeles. The listed costs were $1,800 for the EA headquarters billboard, $1,424 for the Edmonton billboard, and $1,800 for The Game Awards billboard, plus a $250 Times Square billboard the group had already bought. That added up to a stated total of $5,274.
Donors didn't wait around. Some reports said the goal fell in under 15 minutes, while others described it as roughly 20 minutes. Either way, the speed stunned even the organizers. Once the page crossed its target, it showed $5,715 raised from 89 people, an average gift of about $64 each. Organizers then paused new donations since the goal had already been met and then some.
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Why the Save Mass Effect campaign started in the first place
This didn't come out of nowhere. On October 21, 2026, EA announced it was shutting down BioWare and ending development on the studio's next Mass Effect project. The move came as part of wider cuts at EA that reportedly affected around 400 jobs across the company, with about 50 of those at BioWare itself.
One day later, on October 22, a leaked internal trailer titled Mass Effect: Universe showed up on Reddit. The roughly two-minute video featured a new lead character, the returning fan-favorite Liara, in-engine footage, and action scenes shot over the character's shoulder. It closed with the words "Coming Soon." Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier confirmed the footage was real, writing, "Can confirm that this is a real trailer of the Mass Effect game that BioWare was developing up until its closure yesterday." Eurogamer later reported the video had actually been made as an internal pitch for EA leadership, not as public marketing.
Fans say the quote that captures their fight
The GoFundMe page carried a blunt message from organizers: "Mass Effect deserves to not die in some EA vault, dead forever." Another part of the campaign description explained the bigger goal, stating the effort was "about letting EA and everyone involved with Mass Effect Universe and Mass Effect as a franchise that we want to see the story continue."
Organizers also built in a plan for leftover money. Any funds raised beyond what's needed for the billboards will go to the Game Worker Hardship Fund, which supports laid-off developers in the United States and Canada. That detail ties the Mass Effect fight directly to the people who lost their jobs when BioWare closed, not just the game itself.
What former BioWare leadership thinks happens to the franchise
Mark Darrah, who worked as an executive producer at BioWare from 1997 to 2021, weighed in publicly after the shutdown. He said EA has a history of locking big franchises away in what he called a "vault," sometimes for years at a time. But he also suggested EA selling off some of its intellectual property might actually be more likely than letting it sit unused forever. EA still owns the Mass Effect name and all rights tied to it, and nothing in current reporting shows the company has committed to selling, licensing, or reviving the franchise.
No EA spokesperson has publicly addressed the billboard campaign or confirmed anything about the leaked trailer. That silence has left fans filling the gap with billboards, donations, and public pressure instead of official answers.
What comes next for the Save Mass Effect movement
The next big date on the calendar is November 7, 2026, when organizers plan to run their EA Edmonton billboard around N7 Day, the yearly fan celebration tied to the Mass Effect series. After that, the group is aiming for early December, timed to The Game Awards in Los Angeles, where gaming's biggest names and announcements get a global spotlight.
Beyond those two events, there's no confirmed word on whether EA will revive the canceled project, bring back BioWare in any form, or hand the franchise to another studio. For now, the campaign's power sits in its numbers: a goal smashed in minutes, a message aimed straight at EA's front door, and a fan base that clearly isn't ready to let Mass Effect disappear quietly.
