Mass Effect 5 Officially Has A Small Shot At Life

Published Nov 6, 2026, 7:00 PM EST

Lee D’Amato is a writer born, raised, and based in Queens, New York. With collective thousands of hours in games like Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Elden Ring, and The Legend of Zelda, he's now writes game features, guides, and reviews for Screen Rant, but has covered a wide range of topics, including ancient history, affordable travel, and overall health.

Mass Effect fans have been given the slightest sliver of hope that the series may not be well and truly dead. Just a few weeks ago, Mass Effect developer BioWare was shut down by parent company Electronic Arts (EA). This comes after a long string of layoffs at BioWare and EA more generally, in addition to the leveraged buyout of EA by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners.

We do know that BioWare had a fifth Mass Effect game in the works: the subtitle, Universe, and a trailer leaked online following the game's cancelation. Although the TV adaptation and board game releases are expected to go forward, the video game wing of the franchise seemed to be beyond saving, at least until now.

Per Push Square, a petition to the Canadian House of Commons has a shot in the dark at saving Mass Effect. The petition, which asserts that "BioWare is one of Canada's most important cultural exports to the world in the 21st century, selling tens of millions of units of their video games globally," advocates for the government to fund the formerly Alberta-based developer, preventing "Canadian businesses and cultural institutions from being dictated by American and foreign corporate interests."

Canadian law holds that any petition on the House of Commons website that surpasses 500 signatures must be added to the House's agenda, meaning that, yes, one of these days, Canada's Parliament will get together to talk Mass Effect. Of course, that's not a promise it'll take action to bail out BioWare, and, even if it does, there's no guarantee it'll work.

The petition goes on to position BioWare as a uniquely Canadian cultural institution before playing into recent US-Canada tensions, which stem from US President Trump's increased tariffs and repeated threats of annexation.

"BioWare's productions champion the values of inclusivity, tolerance, democracy, justice, and civil rights that are at the center of Canada's national identity ... BioWare's closure represents an immense loss to and possibly a targeted attack on Canada's cultural legacy," it continues.

But of course, just because the House of Commons has to address the petition doesn't mean it has to act on it. There's every possibility they don't see BioWare as a culturally significant part of Canada's legacy, or that funding it simply isn't worth the trouble, for Mass Effect 5 to stay canceled.

And anyway, no matter what the government decides to do, the ball will eventually be in EA's court, as it presumably maintains ownership over the Mass Effect intellectual property. Unless EA agrees, any attempt to revive Mass Effect as it was will remain dead in the water.

So, while it's nice to know Mass Effect has been given a second chance, I'd be reluctant to get my hopes up. There are just too many moving parts between this petition and a full-fledged Mass Effect revival, but it's nice to know, at least, that there's some slim chance.