In a recent interview with video game site Polygon, Bioware co-founder Greg Zeschuk discussed how the company survived its acquisition by Electronic Arts and why he decided to leave Bioware.
According to Zeschuk, Bioware survived being absorbed by EA because it was already well established and had enough talented people in the company to handle the pressure of joining one of the industry's largest video game publishers.
"I think one of the reasons that we survived and succeeded within EA was that our company was mature enough and there was enough good people throughout to handle the EA bear hug - something that is well meaning but vigorous," Zeschuk said. "We needed to be strong to survive that and I think we did and you evolve from that as well."
Zeschuk also addressed why he and fellow co-founder Ray Muzyka left the company late last year to try something new.
"I just felt like my passion was waning," Zeschuk said. "And I am very much a creature of passion and so I kind of looked at myself and go 'OK, If I was to do something else what would I do? What would I really feel engaged in? What would I really enjoy?'"
He decided to create a web-based show about brewing beer after becoming "really obsessed" with the beverage while working in Austin, Texas on the development of the massively multiplayer online game Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Zeschuk also addressed claims that he left the company because of the negative fan feedback from Bioware games, Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age 2.
"Everything's a factor," he explained. "There's nothing that's not a factor, but there's no single one thing. I think the best way I can describe is: Do the same thing for twenty years and it's very, very intense. It's very high pressure. It's very high stress. It's challenging. It's sometimes rewarding and sometimes it's not. And you just get tired of it after awhile. That is probably the easiest way to for me to describe it. Sometimes you just need to change things."
He continued, "One of the few things I find kind of funny is the responses of the fans, because they sort of respond that they are kind of mad at us for leaving because they think we owe them more games. You know it's sad I wish I could deliver on that, but I don't think I would be as good as I was in that space historically. Like I said, the fire wasn't there."
You can read the full interview with Zeschuk on Polygon. Zeschuk and Muzyka founded Bioware in 1995 after graduating from medical school. Bioware is known for games like Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and original intellectual properties like Jade Empire, the Mass Effect series, and the Dragon Age series.
