Two of the three co-founders of one of the most acclaimed game development teams of all time, BioWare, have now decided to leave not just the studio but the game industry as a whole.
The official BioWare website confirmed the departures of Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk today, and each person has written their own personal blog post which goes into more detail about their decision and their future plans.
The two Canadian medical doctors founded BioWare in 1995, along with Augustine Yip, who left in 1997 to return to the medical profession. BioWare"s list of games includes the two Baldur"s Gate titles, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the Mass Effect trilogy and the Dragons Age series. It also includes the MMO game Star Wars: The Old Republic. BioWare was acquired by Electronic Arts in 2007.
In his blog post, Ray Muzyka stated that he felt that he has now accomplished everything he wanted to do in games, and talked about what he will do next. He states:
I believe strongly in the power of free enterprise to enable sustainable change, so my next ‘chapter’ will likely focus on an entirely new industry, something exciting, different and frankly downright scary – investing in and mentoring new entrepreneurs, and more specifically, the field of social/impact investing.
In his own blog post, Greg Zeschuk says, " ... I’m not going to be working in games for a while, and there’s a strong possibility that I won’t be back. After my departure I’m going to be spending significant time with family and friends, as well as pursuing some personal passion-driven projects related to craft beer."
BioWare still has a lot of games in the works, according to Aaryn Flynn, the general manager of BioWare Edmonton & Montreal. In his blog post, he talks about the just revealed Dragon Age III: Inquisition and offers hints about more Mass Effect projects. BioWare is also working on an unannounced game, " ... set in a fictional universe, built from the bottom-up with all new gaming technology."
Source: BioWare | Image via BioWare