Co-founders of RPG developer Bioware, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk have today confirmed their departure from the company.
Both of them seem quite intent on pursuing opportunities beyond the videogames industry and as such, don’t forsee a return to it.
More on this after the jump.
To further elaborate on the reasoning for their departure, the two co-founders have each created a blog entry to which links have been provided near the end of this article.
In somewhat abridged form, essentially Dr. Muzyka has said that he seeks a “new challenge” in “social impact investment” and that in addition to this, he’ll be focusing on ”spending time getting involved with more charities in education, health care, and animal rights.” Good to hear Ray, good to hear.
That isn’t to say though, that he isn’t enthused about the current direction the Bioware ship is taking under their EA overlords publishing partners:
“I remain passionate about video games – they’ll definitely remain one of my favorite hobbies. I see tremendous opportunity ahead for BioWare and its parent company Electronic Arts. I’ve been thrilled to see many exciting products in early development the past few months in the universes of Mass Effect and Dragon Age, as well as new content and business models for SWTOR, new play for free titles like Command and Conquer, Ultima Forever and social games on PC, tablets and mobile, and much more across BioWare and the wider EA team. It is a dynamic and truly exciting time in videogames, and it is reassuring to know that BioWare and its teams as a division of EA will continue to play a vibrant and important role in this industry. Frankly, I’m quite excited by the thought of being able to play the next generation of BioWare games purely as a fan!”
The short version of Dr Zeschuk’s departure reads similarly; he too endeavours to embrace challenges outside of the video games industry and like his co-founder, believes that the Edmonton based developer remains in good hands:
“The amazing thing about working at BioWare is that everyone does this; it is part of the culture we helped foster and grow. BioWare’s foundation in its Core Values, passion and professionalism remains in the very fiber of the company. One thing I’m confident of is that we’ve built a great team that will continue to succeed long after I’m gone. The thing I’m most proud of is the success of people that we’ve help grow over the years; I hope all of them exceed anything I’ve ever done and eclipse our achievements. I have full confidence in the current leadership team guiding BioWare to continued future success.”
Whilst i’m just picking out the core of their message, i’d very much encourage you to read their blog entries to see the full breadth of detail and reasoning behind their departures.
Ray Muzkya’s blog entry may be found here, while his fellow co-founder’s, Greg Zeschuk’s, can be found here.
During their tenure at Bioware, the two doctors have overseen some of the finest Western RPG’s ever built, including the likes of Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire and the Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises.
Given the decline of their recently released Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO as well as the wavering quality seen in the Dragon Age series as of late, not to mention the fan whining over the Mass Effect 3 ending, its not difficult to see why, despite their well-meaning protestations to the contrary, that coming into work each and every day could lose some of its lustre.
Best of luck to them in whatever they do and thanks for the memories, the adventures and the timeless stories.
