Greg Zeschuk, Ray Muzyka Are Leaving BioWare

@Jimbo7676 said:

@TheDudeOfGaming said:

Excellent!

This is exactly the same thing I was thinking. Another company creatively wrecked by EA. Pretty soon, if not already, Bioware will be nothing but a logo. EA probably knew it was headed that way when they purchased them. Thank god for the rise of smaller independent developers and companies like Valve who lash back against this kind of thing.

"Say yes to a deal for your company to get bought.

Company gets ruined.

Absolved of all responsibility for your company getting ruined."

I love gamers pretending to understand business. You can say no to getting your company bought out guys.

@insanejedi said:

@Jimbo7676 said:

@TheDudeOfGaming said:

Excellent!

This is exactly the same thing I was thinking. Another company creatively wrecked by EA. Pretty soon, if not already, Bioware will be nothing but a logo. EA probably knew it was headed that way when they purchased them. Thank god for the rise of smaller independent developers and companies like Valve who lash back against this kind of thing.

"Say yes to a deal for your company to get bought.

Company gets ruined.

Absolved of all responsibility for your company getting ruined."

I love gamers pretending to understand business. You can say no to getting your company bought out guys.

It's a question of finances. Being smaller and independent doesn't mean you're in a better position than you'd be if you were bought out. We frankly don't know what Bioware's financial situation looked like before they agreed to being bought out, nor do we know what sort of incentives EA might have offered in the deal.

Point being, you can say "no." It's just not always the best idea to do so.

oh, I was hoping they were making a new studio. That's pretty sad.

Of course, they are legally not permitted to vent their discontentment towards EA. There are more reasons they're leaving. But I can't help but feel it all builded up very recently. SW: TOR didn't do too well, their ME franchise turned into a cheap soap opera, etc. They're just done with how the industry is operating. The subterfuges they exert to make money is unheard off! It's the very reason my interest in gaming is waning as well. I hope the Doctors will develop new passions in life. According to their statements, there's no doubt about that. Be well, Dr. Ray! Be well, Dr. Greg! That interview by Brad will always be warm-heartedly remembered! Yes, you all know of what interview I talk about!

@morrelloman said:

How can anything bad happen in games post #teambrad? This was coming i guess. DA2 reactions and ME3 fiasco probably made them hate everyone. Like nothing was good enough even tho other games they put out were called some of the best ever, I know I would be fed up if I were them.

Too fucking true.

A Bioware Doctor getting into craft beer? Sign me up! I'm sure the brews will be innovative, though perhaps with unsatisfactory end notes...

I'd express some amount of sadness if I didn't know full well Bioware died a long time ago. This is just EA's corpsepuppet finally succumbing to decomposition, and coming apart at the joints.

 I heard one of my favorite games this year Sleeping Dogs did not do that well. 

Huh. This is pretty big news.

It's easy for people to point at recent games and try to make some sorts of conclusions but I think that's being a bit too game-centric with perspective. These guys have been doing this for years and Bioware has become the megalithic conglomerate in the recent ones. They've probably gone as far as they can go and I'm sure the enterprise doesn't feel like it once was - maybe the size is now too much for them to want to cope with on a long-term scale. You can understand that they just wanted something different and that other life issues affected things.

The other question about whether this will have much material aspect on Bioware's games is also hard to answer. There's lots of great people there I reckon and hopefully that will work out, though who knows if the successors will arise from inside Bioware or outside of it.

THANKS EA

@ninjalegend said:

I heard one of my favorite games this year Sleeping Dogs did not do that well.

I've heard the exact opposite of that.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-09-17-uk-chart-sleeping-dogs-puts-down-tekken-tag-tournament-2

Well this is a somber moment for the medium. I hope some company somewhere can start up and carry the torch for them. The world of video games needs people like these two that used to truly love the games they made and looked to innovate whenever possible. It'll be a strange industry without them to look to.

I'm happy for those dudes. It seems like it'd be super frustrating to work at BioWare now, both because of EA and because of "fans." I really don't see how any remotely creative company can ever really flourish under the purview of a publicly traded company, so good on 'em for holding out as long as they did.

This is sad news indeed. I wish both of them luck in their future endeavors.

They've built up a pretty strong legacy and i hope it continues to endure in their absence.

translation we signed a none compete contract and as soon as that expires we'll open a new none EA studio

Beer? This feels like April fools joke.

I love Bioware. But I think this marks the end of the Bioware as we know..... It is a sad time.

End of an era.

RIP Jade Empire 2.....;_;

They wanted to retire. I would if I were them as well.

The Videogame industry is reaching a tough place right now - there is tremendous money to be made, but there is also tremendous cost and risk. It's very stressful, frankly. One badly received game can sink a studio.

One of the posts by the founders states that he has just lost his passion for the job - and in such a high-pressure industry, you need to care about it to even bother getting out of bed at the end of the day. Once you no longer have that passion, it's best to just leave.

I have always loved bioware's games and feel kind of upset by this news. I am not sure what tangible impact this will really have on the end product.

Fuck those guys, enjoy your tattoos lol.

That's what happens when you sell out. Isn't that right Giant Bomb? lol.

jk

Huh...so I guess that means there's no real hope of a Jade Empire 2. Now mind you I recognize and concede all of Jade Empire's gameplay issues. It's just such an interesting world and setting that I'd like to see revisited.

@Picard said:

Fuck those guys, enjoy your tattoos lol.

That's what happens when you sell out. Isn't that right Giant Bomb.

Agreeing to having your company being bought out is not the same thing as selling out. Bioware is and always has been a business, and the decision to allow the purchase by EA was a business decision that, at the time, the doctors almost certainly felt was a positive move for the company.

@Hailinel said:

@Picard said:

Fuck those guys, enjoy your tattoos lol.

That's what happens when you sell out. Isn't that right Giant Bomb.

Agreeing to having your company being bought out is not the same thing as selling out. Bioware is and always has been a business, and the decision to allow the purchase by EA was a business decision that, at the time, the doctors almost certainly felt was a positive move for the company.

Oh come man, selling your soul to EA wasn't going to bring them nothing but trouble. They knew that, they just didn't care then EA started flashing the green.

RIP Bioware.

@GioVANNI

@Nettacki

I have never been happier to be wrong. I heard this from a certain playstation podcast that it has sold poorly. Unfortunately, when I did a little research, the #s are kind of bad. Under a million for a game that size is not great.

http://www.vgchartz.com/game/70485/sleeping-dogs/

@Picard said:

@Hailinel said:

@Picard said:

Fuck those guys, enjoy your tattoos lol.

That's what happens when you sell out. Isn't that right Giant Bomb.

Agreeing to having your company being bought out is not the same thing as selling out. Bioware is and always has been a business, and the decision to allow the purchase by EA was a business decision that, at the time, the doctors almost certainly felt was a positive move for the company.

Oh come man, selling your soul to EA wasn't going to bring them nothing but trouble. They knew that, they just didn't care then EA started flashing the green.

RIP Bioware.

Being owned by a company and making good games isn't selling out, It's surviving. Being acquired by EA almost always 'kills' the company that was acquired, either by being forced to produce it's successful IP over and over until the talent leaves, or EA shuttering the company and choosing it's talent for another studio. Knowing that, I don't really understand why Bioware agreed to be bought, they knew the track record. But surely they had a good reason, or needed a long term plan, and that was EA. Stop just assuming being acquired is '4 da dough, lol yall deserve 2 die for bein greedy.' Business is more complicated than that.

I'd imagine as far back as the sale of the company the doctors knew they both planned on leaving in the relatively near future and they wanted to ensure that they're staff and the studio would have a firm footing after they left, handing it off to somebody else would be a decent way to do this.

By all accounts they were good men, and did good work for a long time, so I wish them the best.

=(

@BestUsernameEver said:

Stop just assuming being acquired is '4 da dough, lol yall deserve 2 die for bein greedy.' Business is more complicated than that.

Yeah you know, besides when it's not. They will all talk and talk about the benefits and long term goals - in the end EA waved a billion dollars in their faces'. They bailed once their contact was up with EA - to live happily ever after on the backs of longtime Bioware employees and costumers.

Hey I guess it's their baby, doesn't mean it's not a dick move.

* No doubt I'm jumping to some conclusions here. But we all seen this coming a mile away -

@ZombiePie said:

Huh...so I guess that means there's no real hope of a Jade Empire 2. Now mind you I recognize and concede all of Jade Empire's gameplay issues. It's just such an interesting world and setting that I'd like to see revisited.

Hear, hear!

Aside from gameplay I had issues with the ham-fisted way they interpreted Chinese culture and folklore that I grew up with... but it's so rare to see it at all in games! I enjoyed Jade Empire for the novelty, and would have loved to see them do another.

They probably had a argument with the big cheese of EA, just like what happened to Richard Garriott when he left the company in 2000. I won't be surprised if the next people to leave are those from Visceral Games.

Bioware should try a complete new IP. And I mean completely new. Going back to Baulder's Gate and Jade Empire would automatically be met with mixed reaction (desperate cash grab!) where an entirely new thing would help reset expectations where at worse they wouldn't know what to think without seeing it.

Despite the billion dollar offer, Newell said Valve would prefer to "disintegrate" than ever sell out.

“It’s way more likely we would head in that direction than say, ‘Let’s find some giant company that wants to cash us out and wait two or three years to have our employment agreements terminate,’" he said.

Is it just a coincidence he just said this?,... lol

Seems like he may of been speaking about something,.. <_<

Man, that's sad. I can't read Zeschuck's letter as anything but "Greg Zeschuk has retired to drink himself to death."

@Picard said:

Despite the billion dollar offer, Newell said Valve would prefer to "disintegrate" than ever sell out.

“It’s way more likely we would head in that direction than say, ‘Let’s find some giant company that wants to cash us out and wait two or three years to have our employment agreements terminate,’" he said.

Is it just a coincidence he just said this?,... lol

Seems like he may of been speaking about something,.. <_<

"Live free or die."

- Gabe Newell, the One Free Man.

Good for them.

EA: they'll chew you up, spit you out and then re-use your name a decade later when they think people have forgotten. I kid, somewhat.

@GioVANNI: The UK isn't the entire market, a game can do well in one region and still not meet sales expectations.

@PinstripeHourglass said:

Man, that's sad. I can't read Zeschuck's letter as anything but "Greg Zeschuk has retired to drink himself to death."

Im sure if they do a poll, most of EAs employees will do the same thing.

Sad to hear their departure. While I didn't play much Shattered Steel, I've enjoyed their games since the release day of Baldur's Gate I

I'd feel sorry for Bioware, but then again, I'd just end up feeling sorrier for Black Isle.

@Terramagi said:

@Picard said:

Despite the billion dollar offer, Newell said Valve would prefer to "disintegrate" than ever sell out.

“It’s way more likely we would head in that direction than say, ‘Let’s find some giant company that wants to cash us out and wait two or three years to have our employment agreements terminate,’" he said.

Is it just a coincidence he just said this?,... lol

Seems like he may of been speaking about something,.. <_<

"Live free or die."

- Gabe Newell, the One Free Man.

You are followed, my motherfucking sir!

EA drove the doctors to gambling and alcoholism!!!

Baldur's Gate is one of my most loved games series, but I'm more interested in Zeschuk's beer shenanigans than I have been in any Bioware game post-acquisition.

@cursormonkey said:

EA drove the doctors to gambling and alcoholism!!!

You win! :)

@BestUsernameEver said:

@Picard said:

@Hailinel said:

@Picard said:

Fuck those guys, enjoy your tattoos lol.

That's what happens when you sell out. Isn't that right Giant Bomb.

Agreeing to having your company being bought out is not the same thing as selling out. Bioware is and always has been a business, and the decision to allow the purchase by EA was a business decision that, at the time, the doctors almost certainly felt was a positive move for the company.

Oh come man, selling your soul to EA wasn't going to bring them nothing but trouble. They knew that, they just didn't care then EA started flashing the green.

RIP Bioware.

Being owned by a company and making good games isn't selling out, It's surviving. Being acquired by EA almost always 'kills' the company that was acquired, either by being forced to produce it's successful IP over and over until the talent leaves, or EA shuttering the company and choosing it's talent for another studio. Knowing that, I don't really understand why Bioware agreed to be bought, they knew the track record. But surely they had a good reason, or needed a long term plan, and that was EA. Stop just assuming being acquired is '4 da dough, lol yall deserve 2 die for bein greedy.' Business is more complicated than that.

And they were bought under Riccitiello regime when it was new and promising a better EA. Back then EA did seem to be turning a corner, but they started losing money and losing ground to Activision so they reverted to their old ways. Sad. I predict the Bioware name ceases to exist in the new 5 years.

Those statements made me worried for Bioware going forward

I always knew that by entering the MMO market, Bioware were going to shoot themselves in the foot.

Its an end of an era, for sure. Perhaps the eventual end of Bioware, altogether.