Like the #SaveMassEffect The campaign continues after the closure of BioWare, members of the “We Are Mass Effect” subgroup began to make their voices heard beyond the Internet. Yesterday the group paid a Billboard in Times Square in New Yorkbut now he has his eyes set on things a little closer to home with publisher Electronic Arts: the company’s own offices.
BioWare fans Kala Elizabeth, Ariel Aguilar and Mer created a GoFundMe campaign for fans to help pay for billboards outside EA’s headquarters in Redwood City, the company’s Edmonton office that is closed after BioWare closed, and this year’s Game Awards in Los Angeles in December. The GoFundMe reached its goal of $5,274 in less than 15 minutes. This figure comes from a cost estimate after the group contacted companies that allow people to pay for display space in the respective areas.
“I have no words,” said Mer Kotaku. “And we’re already thinking about other ways to keep the momentum going! More to come.”
Mer says the group will finalize the dates for these billboards after determining the logistics. The Game Awards are scheduled to take place on December 10, so at least one of these displays is aimed at a specific window.
The GoFundMe will no longer collect donations after reaching its goal, with the group hoping to donate all excess profits to the Gaming Worker Relief Fund organized by United Videogame Workers-CWA, which supports licensed game developers. The trio contacted the organization according to instructions on its website and are waiting to see if this is possible.
“At this time, our intention is that any funds raised above our goal will be donated to the Game Workers’ Hardship Fund,” Mer said. Kotaku. “We’ve been trying to contact them for days to see if this is an option. When we didn’t hear back, we closed the petition when we reached our goal, with little spillover. The funds will be used to cover the billboards and GoFundMe fees.”
The problem is that, according to the UVW-CWA’s official website, there is currently no way to donate directly to the fund, but the organization is “exploring options” to make this possible in the future. If excess cash cannot be returned to the Hardship Fund, the group intends to find another way to use the money to help affected developers.
“We currently have no way to donate directly to the relief fund,” the website reads. “We are exploring options and will provide an update when we have more information on this. In the future, if direct donations are available, they will be set up through a donations page on Action Network.”
All this follows the launch of a Change petition that has surpassed a quarter of a million signatures urging EA to “save” the Mass effect series. The petition did, however, generate some conflict among fans, as it suggested the series be handed over to a new studio and did not mention how lost BioWare employees could be involved, which did not sit well with some members of the community.
Gn tech
