BioWare

Overview

BioWare is a Canadian development studio owned by Electronic Arts. It is most famous for its highly praised role-playing games including Baldur's Gate and the Mass Effect series. There are currently five studios under the BioWare banner including BioWare Edmonton, BioWare Austin, BioWare Montreal, BioWare Ireland, and BioWare Mythic. The developer has received multiple awards including Spike TV's 2010 Video Game Awards: Studio of the Year.

History

Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk

Bioware is one of the most acclaimed RPG developers in the western world. It was founded in February 1995 by Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip. Zeschuk and Muzyka previously completed medical degrees at the University of Alberta. Zeschuk has recently finished his MBA at Queen's School of Business. Yip left the company in 1997 to return to medicine, but Zeschuk and Muzyka remained and still act as heads of the studio.

Bioware is famous for such Dungeon and Dragons inspired games as Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights. The company originally developed games exclusively for the PC platform, but In 2003 the company released Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic for the Xbox in collaboration with LucasArts. This game was the first of several games that Bioware would develop for Microsoft's consoles. It was followed in 2004 by Jade Empire and in 2007 by Mass Effect for the Xbox 360. In 2005 Bioware merged with fellow developer Pandemic Studios.

Acquisition by EA

Soon after releasing Mass Effect, Bioware and Pandemic were purchased by publishing giant Electronic Arts. Ray Muzyka became a general manager and senior vice president at Electronic Arts after he and Zeschuk sold the company. Under EA, BioWare has been releasing games on both the Xbox 360 and the PS3. Their first multi-platform release together was Dragon Age: Origins in Nov. 2009, dubbed a spiritual successor to the Baldur's Gate series. Less than three months later, they released the award winning Mass Effect 2.

On Mar. 2, 2009 BioWare announced that they were opening a new studio under EA Montreal. The studio is composed of about 30 people and it is unknown what game they are currently working on. Rumors suggest it is in the Mass Effect universe but BioWare has yet to state anything concrete.

BioWare's upcoming games include a Star Wars MMO set in the Knights of the Old Republic universe, called Star Wars: the Old Republic and Mass Effect 3

Engines

Bioware along with developing games, has created several Engines, including the Infinity Engine, Aurora Engine, and the Odyssey Engine. Their latest is the Eclipse Engine that powers the Dragon Age series.

Awards

• In 2010, co-founders Ray Muzyka & Greg Zeschuk were inducted into the AIAS Hall of Fame.
• BioWare were awarded in the "Best Studio" category at Spike VGA 2010.

Games