Update: Canadian MP Don Davies has commented on BioWare’s petition: “BioWare has cultivated an international following thanks to its renowned video game franchises such as Mass Effect, Baldur’s Gate and Dragon Age. Canada’s video game industry creates some of our most important cultural exports, and BioWare was one of our biggest success stories. Electronic Arts, its American parent company, has never invested in BioWare’s success since they bought the studio as part of a larger acquisition in 2007. This is a pattern with video. Game publishers like EA buy up smaller developers, set unrealistic deadlines, overwork their employees, and meddle in the development process, resulting in lower quality games, then when sales don’t meet expectations, they blame the developers, lay off workers, and ultimately close the studio for short-term profits. “BioWare should be given the first opportunity to buy back their studio and continue making the games fans love. They are primarily asking the federal government to provide the necessary capital. Our goal with the petition is to demonstrate how many Canadians believe this is a worthwhile investment in our entertainment industry.” It’s been a couple of weeks since EA shut down BioWare, but the fight to save the studio is still gaining momentum. And now, after a fan-made petition reached 300,000 signatures, a Canadian politician started an official government petition to save the Mass Effect developer. Petition e-7898 was started by Burnaby, British Columbia resident Brendan Routh and sponsored by Vancouver Kingsway MP Don Davies. The petition primarily calls on the Canadian government to provide BioWare with the capital necessary to ensure independence and ownership of its intellectual property. However, it also calls on the government to protect Canadian companies from “being dictated by American and foreign corporate interests.” The petition also calls on the government to “uphold the values of inclusion, tolerance, democracy, justice and civil rights at the core of Canada’s national identity by preserving BioWare’s invaluable contribution to the global entertainment industry.” Every IGN Mass Effect Review As of this writing, the petition has already amassed 2,861 signatures. And while that’s a far cry from the 307,000 signatures on the change.org petition, the Canadian government only requires 500 people to sign it before presenting it to the House of Commons for discussion. And although it will be presented to the House of Commons, it remains to be seen whether the Canadian government will actually act on it. However, Don Davies has turned to Bluesky to argue the merits of the petition. In a post, Davies argues that “BioWare’s US parent company, EA, has decided to close the studio. These publishers buy developers, ruin them and destroy them for profit. There is a pattern of US companies buying Canadian companies and closing them, costing Canadians their jobs.” support – to buy it and run it themselves.” This petition comes just over a week after another Canadian politician, Avi Lewis, spoke out about the shutdown and floated the idea of the Canadian government helping BioWare gain independence from EA. But, now that a petition has crossed the signature threshold, there’s actually a small chance something could happen. I’ve reached out to Don Davies for comment and will update this article if I hear anything. But who knows; maybe there’s a chance it’ll come out after all some from that awesome leaked trailer for Mass Effect 5. Jackie Thomas is IGN’s senior tech editor and the queen of PC components. She’s been covering gaming hardware for over a decade for IGN, TechRadar, Gizmodo, PC Gamer, and more.
