Mass Effect Fans Put #SaveMassEffect on a Times Square Billboard

Mass Effect fans have taken their campaign to one of the most visible advertising spots in the world. A #SaveMassEffect billboard now stands in Times Square, paid for by the community after reports that Electronic Arts shut down BioWare, the studio behind the sci-fi role-playing series, last week.

The billboard is a pointed message from a fanbase that has never been casual about the series. The original trilogy, which began in 2007, built a devoted following around its story of choice, consequence and a galaxy under threat, and that loyalty carried through later entries and the Legendary Edition re-release. A billboard in Times Square is an expensive way to say that the community is not ready to let the franchise quietly fade.

The effort is not meant to be a one-off. According to the report that prompted this story, the people behind the billboard already have plans for more, though the details were not spelled out in the material available to us.

It is also unclear how EA will respond. Public pressure on a publisher rarely changes a studio closure on its own, and the source material does not indicate any statement from EA addressing the fan campaign. Whether the billboard becomes a footnote or the start of a larger push will likely depend on what the campaign does next and whether the publisher engages with it at all.