Key Takeaways
- The SaveMassEffect community campaign now has a billboard in Times Square, New York City, featuring the phrase “Kellah Si’yah” — a reference to the ship that carried colonists to the Andromeda system.
- The #SaveMassEffect Change.org petition has now crossed 226,000 signatures and is still climbing.
- More initiatives are planned: a mobile billboard near EA’s headquarters in Redwood City, California, another near BioWare’s Edmonton offices, a billboard for N7 Day (November 7), and one in Los Angeles for The Game Awards.
- All efforts are funded by the community, with a GoFundMe planned to handle the costs.
- Any funds raised beyond the campaign goal will be donated to the Game Workers’ Hardship Fund, supporting laid-off game developers across the US and Canada.
- The campaign is being led by the We Are Mass Effect community group in collaboration with content creator Kala Elizabeth.
One week after EA shut down BioWare and cancelled the next Mass Effect game, the fans aren’t letting the conversation die. The SaveMassEffect movement has officially gone physical — and in a very big way. A community-funded billboard bearing a message of solidarity is now live in Times Square, New York City, pointing passersby toward the growing online campaign demanding that EA do something to keep the franchise alive.
This is what Mass Effect fandoms do. They organize, they fund things, and they show up. And right now, they are very loudly showing up.
The Times Square Billboard — And What It Says
The billboard was put together by the We Are Mass Effect community group in collaboration with content creator Kala Elizabeth, and it’s directing people to the #SaveMassEffect hashtag that has dominated gaming social media this week.
The text on the ad reads “Kellah Si’yah” — a reference that will land immediately for any Mass Effect fan and may puzzle everyone else in Times Square. In the lore of Mass Effect Andromeda, the Kellah Si’yah is the ark ship that ferried thousands of colonists from the Milky Way to the Andromeda galaxy, carrying different species who chose to leave their old lives behind in search of something new. Naming the billboard after a vessel of hope and migration is exactly the kind of layered, fandom-specific message that says “this is for us, and we know what it means.”
Organiser Mer Mora confirmed to Eurogamer that the Times Square activation is just the opening move in a larger, coordinated campaign the community is building out through the rest of 2026.
What Else Is Planned
The roadmap of upcoming activations is genuinely ambitious for a grassroots fan effort. Here’s what the We Are Mass Effect group has confirmed is in the works:
- An advertising truck near EA’s headquarters in Redwood City, California — directly outside the offices of the publisher responsible for shutting BioWare down.
- Another mobile billboard in Edmonton, the city where BioWare was based, in solidarity with the approximately 50 developers who lost their jobs when the studio closed.
- A billboard for N7 Day — the annual Mass Effect fan celebration held on November 7 — which this year carries an entirely different emotional weight given the studio’s closure.
- A further billboard in Los Angeles for The Game Awards, timed to one of the industry’s most high-profile annual events and its massive media footprint.
“All of these initiatives will be funded by the community itself,” Mora told Eurogamer. “We’re putting together a GoFundMe after receiving an overwhelming response from community members eager to contribute financially to make all of these happen.”
And crucially, the campaign isn’t treating excess money as a windfall. Any funds raised beyond what’s needed to cover the billboard and advertising costs will be donated to the Game Workers’ Hardship Fund — a resource opened this year by the United Videogame Workers union (UVW-CWA) to support the many game developers across the US and Canada who have been laid off amid the industry’s ongoing wave of studio closures and restructurings. In one move, the community is advocating for the franchise they love while also directing resources toward the people who were most directly harmed by EA’s decision.
The Petition Keeps Growing
The Change.org petition started by fan Joe Smith in the immediate aftermath of BioWare’s closure has now surpassed 226,000 signatures — up from 187,000 just days ago, and showing no signs of slowing down. The petition doesn’t ask EA to reverse the closure of BioWare outright; it’s asking for something it frames as more realistic: a commitment to “the continued development of Mass Effect” through either direct EA investment in a new game or by licensing the Mass Effect IP to another studio that can do the franchise justice.
That second ask — licensing the IP — has become the most discussed option in the fandom. The Mass Effect universe is enormous, with lore written partly by George R.R. Martin (yes, that one), a beloved cast of characters, and a fanbase that has proven repeatedly it will show up for new entries done with care. The idea that EA might let it sit indefinitely rather than allow a passionate outside studio to continue the story is exactly the kind of outcome this campaign is trying to prevent.
It’s worth noting that EA has not publicly responded to the petition, the billboard, or the broader SaveMassEffect movement since BioWare’s closure was announced on October 21.
Why N7 Day This Year Matters More Than Ever
N7 Day — held every November 7 in honour of Commander Shepard’s N7 special forces designation — has been a joyful annual tradition in the Mass Effect community for over a decade. BioWare would typically mark it with new teasers, reveals, or community messages. This year, for the first time since the celebration began, there is no BioWare left to mark it.
The community has decided to mark it themselves. The planned N7 Day billboard from the We Are Mass Effect group will carry the SaveMassEffect message on what would otherwise be one of the hardest dates on the calendar for fans of the series. Turning grief into visibility — making sure that EA and the wider industry know this community isn’t simply going to move on — is exactly the approach that the campaign is built around.
Whether any of it will change EA’s direction remains to be seen. The company’s decisions in the wake of its $55 billion buyout have made clear that commercial considerations are currently driving the agenda. But the Mass Effect community has proved before that it doesn’t give up easily — and right now, it is making a lot of noise in a lot of visible places.
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