From Aaryn Flynn
As you have probably heard by now, BioWare’s two founders, Doctors Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, have announced their retirement from game development with blog posts that you can review here.
I know this might be concerning for some of you but the leaders at BioWare have had some time to think about it – to think about how the games, the fans, and the creative teams would move on without the two guys who started this organization back in 1995. We – including Ray and Greg – think the studio is solid and the team here is ready to embark on a whole new era of games.
As the General Manager of BioWare Edmonton and Montreal, I want to take this opportunity to talk this through, and to update everyone on the people and projects that will define Bioware in the months ahead.
First, I want to offer an homage to the two men who founded this studio and helped build a global community of fans and friends. As the legend goes, Ray and Greg went to medical school together here in Edmonton before trading in the stethoscopes to pursue their true passion of games. What followed was an explosion of creative energy that delivered epic games from Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights in the early years to Dragon Age, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Mass Effect most recently. All of this hard work culminated in 2011 when they received one of game development’s highest honors — entry into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ Hall of Fame. To get a sense of what it’s been like to work with Ray and Greg, give their acceptance speech a watch here.
Ray and Greg have been well-recognized for their creative achievements but their greatest legacy will be the culture and leadership team they built at BioWare. I could go on and on about that here at BioWare, but that’s a difficult thing to do without you knowing a bit more about me and what it’s meant to me to work with Ray and Greg.
I joined BioWare more than 12 years ago straight out of University, as a programmer with a Computing Science degree. I went to work on Baldur’s Gate II immediately, learning about the tools the content creators were using to help make the game. From there I went on to work on the Neverwinter Nights Toolset, and then onto Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, where I helped program the combat systems for the game. From there I went on to Jade Empire (which still holds a special place in my heart as a game), and once that was done I was onto Dragon Age: Origins. At that point, my official coding career began winding down and I was doing more and more things like recruiting and planning. Then, a little more than three years ago, Ray & Greg offered me the chance to manage the Edmonton and Montreal studios. Greg was taking on new responsibilities that eventually found him managing BioWare Austin, and Ray was expanding his responsibilities to include additional studios as Group and then Label GM, overseeing and directing all of BioWare.
In that time, I’ve seen our studio culture grow, change, evolve – especially now that we’re part of EA (I’ll talk more about that in future blog posts). What hasn’t changed is our cohesive spirit that binds us as a team. It starts with a passion for creating the very best games; it demands a deep commitment to respecting and listening to our players; it includes ongoing recognition that great games require skilled and dedicated people; and above all, it requires incredible integrity – integrity that spans across our games, our relationships with players, and our commitments to each other.
Love of games, respect for the players, teamwork and integrity – those are the hallmarks of a culture built by Ray and Greg. It started in their hearts and minds, ran through their daily actions, and resonated deeply in the people that joined them in their remarkable journey. And now with their retirement, the creative teams at BioWare Edmonton & Montreal are ready to carry on that legacy:
• DRAGON AGE 3: Inquisition – Yesterday, we announced that BioWare is now developing the next chapter of the Dragon Age series. Executive Producer Mark Darrah and our teams have been meeting with fans about what they want in a new Dragon Age game. I love spending time with the Dragon Age team as they work on Inquisition. The thought-provoking discussions, the fun, and most of all, the discovery of what’s possible on a new engine is both exhilarating and humbling.
• MASS EFFECT – Executive Producer Casey Hudson and his team are coming off an amazing eight-year run with the Mass Effect trilogy. But they’re not done yet. We are releasing more multiplayer content and we have more single-player stories coming throughout the next six months, including Omega which is coming in the Fall. But the Mass Effect universe is vast, and Casey and our teams have plans for another full game. “Where to go next?” with such a project has been a question a lot of us have been asking, and we’d all love to hear your ideas.
• BRAND NEW GAMES FROM BIOWARE – Both Dragon Age and Mass Effect started as single games but grew into vast universes. But we aren’t stopping there. While Casey continues to oversee the development of our new Mass Effect project, he and his leads are putting together their vision for an all new game set in a fictional universe, built from the bottom-up with all new gaming technology.
As the GM for Edmonton and Montreal, I know that creative people are delivering new content and gameplay for established franchises, and new games that go in new directions.
Ray and Greg built BioWare to last. They’ve always known their retirement would come one day, so they developed a team of people who would ensure their standards and culture would endure. We’ll humbly carry that torch and continue learning in the process.
To the Doctors: I wish you the very best, and we will always honor your legacy. The games we develop will always share your unique creativity and steadfast integrity.
Now it’s up to us to show the world what you taught us.
Klik om te vergroten...
