Bioware founders leave Bioware and retire from the video game industry

[ComixZone]

GiantBomb Story

...reasons behind the move aren't known, but eeeeeeeeesh.

[cDnStealth]

Colour me not shocked.

[Komskies]

Not surprised in the least. They probably just wanted to escape the EA death-grasp.

[Komskies]

Blog posts from each of them:

http://blog.bioware.com/2012/09/18/from-ray-muzyka/
http://blog.bioware.com/2012/09/18/from-greg-zeschuk/

[kirant]

Originally Posted by Komskies

Not surprised in the least. They probably just wanted to escape the EA death-grasp.

From the article's comment section:

[cDnStealth]

Originally Posted by Komskies

Blog posts from each of them:

http://blog.bioware.com/2012/09/18/from-ray-muzyka/
http://blog.bioware.com/2012/09/18/from-greg-zeschuk/

I have to say that I am surprised that they are leaving the industry altogether.

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by kirant

From the article's comment section:

I knew I had seen this somewhere before...

[Blaster86]

I'd put a lot of money on them being forced and and forced into signing clauses to stay out of the business, like many here.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

I'd put a lot of money on them being forced and and forced into signing clauses to stay out of the business, like many here.

read their blogs. They left on their own to pursue other careers.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

read their blogs. They left on their own to pursue other careers.

That's what they say, but who knows if they have NDAs that prevent them from disclosing the real reasons behind their departure.

I think it's equally likely that they resigned because they hated EA's corporate culture or they were forced out because of SWTOR's failure to deliver WoW-like numbers. Either way, I saw this coming the moment I read that BioWare had been purchased by EA. I hope they start a new studio and poach the best BioWare talent once their non-compete expires.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

That's what they say, but who knows if they have NDAs that prevent them from disclosing the real reasons behind their departure.

I think it's equally likely that they resigned because they hated EA's corporate culture or they were forced out because of SWTOR's failure to deliver WoW-like numbers. Either way, I saw this coming the moment I read that BioWare had been purchased by EA. I hope they start a new studio and poach the best BioWare talent once their non-compete expires.

[DownhillGoat]

^Do you take every press release/blog/comment at face value?

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

^Do you take every press release/blog/comment at face value?

Do you subscribe to every off-the-cuff, completely baseless conspiracy theory found on the internet?

This isn't a case of these two guys being bullied. They weren't in a position to be bullied whatsoever. They made their own personal decisions every step of the way, including when they became EA Partners in the first place.

The Anti-EA stance of many may have some valid arguments in regards to other studios, but these two were not bullied out by some evil corporation.

[MarchHare]

these two were not bullied out by some evil corporation.

Now who's jumping to conclusions?

The fact of the matter is none of us know their real reasons for leaving. You can choose to take what was in the press release at face value, but reasonable people have cause to believe it may not be the full story. Do you always believe it when politicians and prominent business executives say they're stepping down to spend more time with their family?

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

Do you subscribe to every off-the-cuff, completely baseless conspiracy theory found on the internet?

You know nothing about how EA operates, do you?

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

You know nothing about how EA operates, do you?

Actually, I know a great deal - including personally knowing a number of their employees, past and present.

I'm well aware of the criticisms (including the very valid and very public ones) levied against EA - most of which transpired prior to the 2007 move of bringing in Riccitiello.

No, they're not perfect - nor are any of the other big development firms out there.

[nik-]

To be fair guys, there's no evidence of EA buying a smaller company for their IP and then driving them into the ground with date window focused releases followed by them firing large portions of the staff.

Oops, I mean Bigfoot ... there's no evidence of Bigfoot.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

Do you subscribe to every off-the-cuff, completely baseless conspiracy theory found on the internet?

Sure don't. I just find it's very rare to find a story that only has one side. I'm not saying they were exactly bullied out, I just think there's more to it than what's out in the public or on their blog. Generally these type of situations have a lot of behind the scenes workings.

[Henry Fool]

Commenters on gaming sites want to see this as deeply meaningful and further evidence of Bioware's decay (who apparently now only produce pure crap), but I'm not really sure how much creative input the doctors have had on recent projects. Maybe on TOR, I don't know. They could have been burned out by that venture.

If you no longer have the passion, maybe it's time to move on. If they simply wanted to escape EA or if EA was forcing them out, they'd form another game company, but neither sound like they have any interest in doing that.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Henry Fool

If they simply wanted to escape EA or if EA was forcing them out, they'd form another game company, but neither sound like they have any interest in doing that.

EA surely made them sign a non-compete clause when they bought BioWare. Let's see what happens in a year or two.