BioWare has just announced that co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk have decided to retire from the company. Each of the two has penned a blog article about their time at BioWare and detail some of the reasons behind their decision.

From Ray Muzyka:

The decision to leave the videogame industry is hard to explain, but essentially I feel similar now to how I felt in the early days of BioWare over the decade post-medical school, while I was still practicing as an ER physician, back when I first realized that the world of video games was my next career ‘chapter’. Two wonderful decades working at BioWare and later EA was the result of that decision. It’s not often that you can truly say you were able to pursue and achieve your dream job; I know how lucky I am to be able to say that now, in my early 40s.

From Greg Zeschuk:

Some of you will be curious what I’ll be doing next, and I can state that 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. The main project I will be working on is a web-based interview show called The Beer Diaries where I interview notable brewers and showcase their beers. If things go well, I’ll work on other beer-related shows, apps and projects. If not, I’ll have drunk a lot of tasty beers and may be back in games or even something else completely different. Ultimately time will tell.

Read the full blog posts on the BioWare site.

Well, I'm sure they've made plenty of money off of the sale of BW to be ok.

Interesting, I see this as throwing in the towel and running away. These gusy are better than that.

Originally posted by WhiteLantern

Well, I'm sure they've made plenty of money off of the sale of BW to be ok.

Interesting, I see this as throwing in the towel and running away. These gusy are better than that.

That's like David and Goliath.  And even if they had a chance at winning, would you want to spend the amount of time it would take fighting something as big as EA?

Originally posted by WhiteLantern

Well, I'm sure they've made plenty of money off of the sale of BW to be ok.

Interesting, I see this as throwing in the towel and running away. These gusy are better than that.

Not much else they can do at this point. The deal is done. Souls and cash have long since been exchanged. Put yourself in their shoes, watching over the last few years as the studio they built into one of the most beloved RPG devs is milked dry and thoroughly violated by the EA behemoth. It's gotta be disheartening.

Plus they probably had to sign a non-compete contract. Maybe when (or if) that runs out they'll give it another shot.

They made some excellant games, sad to see em go.

"Where are all the good men dead? In the heart, or in the head?"

End of an era I guess.

Oh well. We still have the next generic ball of shyte from Hugenormous Conglomco Inc to look forward to.

Originally posted by DSWBeef
Code for "We hate what EA has done to BW, so we're gone"

Pretty much what I was thinking as well.

Bioware had a game they wanted to make, EA bought them, told them the game they wanted Bioware to make.. 

.. you know the rest of the story.

I love how folks pretend that a founder who sells his/her company to a huge corporate entity is somehow innocent when that huge company butchers the original vision, guts the brand or exploits its strengths.  They call it "selling out" for a reason. These guys built a great company, saw an oppurtunity to reap an enormous harvest when they sold to EA-but they did so with their eyes wide open-they took the cash and sold the baby.  Acting as if their departure now is somehow an act of defiance at how the baby they knowingly sold is being raised is naive and absurd. 

I dont blame them at all for selling but i also wont pretend that they arent 100% culpable in what BW has turned into.

No way to encapsulate my feelings other than a heart felt ;

"F U , you sell-outs!"

Wow. As much as Bioware losing their touch bit by bit was sad to see, this is still horrendous news.

This basically means Bioware is no more. True, I haven't greatly enjoyed the games they made for some time now, but c'mon... We're talking about a company that's developed some of my favorite games ever. Baldur's Gate 2, KOTOR...

They shouldn't have sold out to EA... They just shouldn't have. 

To me, this is the biggest "EA ruining a dev house" incident since Westwood.

Just hold in there, Valve. 

Worse part is that the executives of EA and management are safe no matter what.  Even if EA tanks, which it probably will if this keeps up, they will be perfectly fine. 

Although it may be too soon to call this Bioware's death, this is a blow nonetheless. 

Originally posted by DSWBeef
Code for "We hate what EA has done to BW, so we're gone"

probably true. What a shame.

Still the force is still strong...

"personal passion-driven projects related to craft beer"

Originally posted by garrett
this sucks.

 

It does suck. I'm a bit bummed. Quite frankly that was a death knell if I ever heard one.

Crud, those 2 were the last good of Bioware.

I hope they after a year or so doing other stuff realize that they are good at making games and start something new (and this time dont selll to EA no matter what they pay).

My hat is off, Bioware we knew is now offcially gone. 

Lets remember them for the good games they made, like Baldurs gate I & II and NWN.

Good luck both of you. And Greg, you cant go wrong with beer. :)