Video game community rallying to save Mass Effect

A glimpse into what could have been for fans of the hit video game series Mass Effect. The sci-fi third-person shooter was slated for its fifth installment until disaster struck this past October. In what Electronic Arts described as corporate restructuring and financial pressure, the Edmonton-based company BioWare was forced to close their doors, leading to the cancellation of Mass Effect 5. But hope for the game's survival lives on. I actually think the Mass Effect team that was working on the new game I think they had some good ideas, and I think they were making decent progress, and I don't think the game was really close to ship, but I think they were making good progress. There was something there. Hundreds of thousands of gamers have now rallied to sign not just one, but two petitions. A parliamentary e-petition with just under 7,000 signatures calling on the federal government to help keep BioWare alive as a Canadian cultural institution, and another one called Hashtag Save Mass Effect, which has garnered over 300,000 signatures so far to convince EA to continue developing Mass Effect 5. We Are Mass Effect, a fan-led group advocating for the future of the game, have even gone as far as advertising the petition on billboards in Times Square. They're even advertising on trucks outside of EA's headquarters in California. There's even one in Edmonton. According to Trent Oster, the former co-founder of BioWare, these petitions just might be enough to resurrect this fallen franchise. It at least generates a signal, both to EA and to other companies out there, that, hey, there's a potential market for this. If you're interested, maybe there's a deal to be worked out. For Nathan Evanishin, an avid fan of the game, he feels the potential for another Mass Effect is well within reach with these hundreds of thousands of signatures. I have full belief that there is enough hope out there in this city, if not the country, that still wants to see Mass Effect. Canadians have until March 4th to sign the parliamentary petition. Tristan Mottrachet, CBC News, Edmonton.