BioWare Doctors Did Not Leave Due to Fan Negativity

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By Catherine Cai
published

Dr. Ray Muyzka denies rumors that he and Greg Zeschuk left due to fan's negative reaction to Mass Effect 3 and SW:TOR.

Recently, BioWare founders Drs. Ray Muyzka and Greg Zeschuk, in an unexpected announcement, declared that they were retiring from BioWare and the gaming industry. According to Muyzka, the decision was influenced by the fact that he no longer felt the same passion for videogames as he previously did: "I’ve reached an unexpected point in my life where I no longer have the passion that I once did for the company, for the games, and for the challenge of creation," Zeschuk said. "For the people I have had the privilege of working with, however, my passion burns as brightly as it did the day we started. The people I work with now, and that I have worked with in the past, have inspired me and really made all of the challenges we’ve collectively faced over the years worthwhile."

Soon after, ex-BioWare and current Beamdog president Trent Oster stirred up the rumor pot by declaring that he had advised Zeschuk to "Punch out, eject, get the hell out" had "hit closer to the mark than I had realised." Oster then speculated that the doctors may have left because of fan negativity: "the Mass Effect 3 fan reaction and the Old Republic fans negativity was just too much.” In a few hours, Oster's speculation had spread to major gaming websites. 

Muyzka denied the speculation on his Twitter feed, where he criticized games journalists that blew the rumor out of proportion for "speculating on ill-founded rumors should reassess approach" while praising fans for their "deep, honest passion."

While the overwhelming negative fan response to the Mass Effect 3 ending and The Old Republic's move to free-to-play were no doubt hard on the doctors, considering their experience in the industry, it would be a petty reason to leave a company whose name and work command respect.

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Catherine Cai
25 Comments Comment from the forums
  • itchyisvegeta
    If they no longer have the passion they once did for video games, then I look at it as a good thing that they are moving on. Get some people to take over Star Wars The Old Republic that DO have passion and can really turn things around.

    Look at Halo 4. Bungie clearly no longer had a passion for the Halo franchise. 343i takes over, and Halo 4 looks like a fresh rejuvenation to the franchise. Bioware games can clearly benefit from the same thing.

    Now whether EA helps or hurts this, remains to be seen.......
    Reply
  • dudewitbow
    itchyisvegetaIf they no longer have the passion they once did for video games, then I look at it as a good thing that they are moving on. Get some people to take over Star Wars The Old Republic that DO have passion and can really turn things around. Look at Halo 4. Bungie clearly no longer had a passion for the Halo franchise. 343i takes over, and Halo 4 looks like a fresh rejuvenation to the franchise. Bioware games can clearly benefit from the same thing.Now whether EA helps or hurts this, remains to be seen.......
    I agree, but the grim look I see when a company spirals downwards while under EAs control. Common examples would be Bullfrog Entertainment(theme series), Pandemic Studios(SW: Battlefront, Mercenaries, Destroy all humans), as well as dissolve a lot of companies and relocated some of the members elsewhere.
    Reply
  • magnetite
    EA isn't as evil as most people believe. A lot of people seem to label any big corporations in the world as "evil".

    As for this fan reaction, it's quite overblown actually. The ending isn't as bad as most people claim it to be. If you take your time slowly through the game and read everything (email, codex, datapads, and all the little clues that have been provided), the ending makes perfect sense. Most people who reacted to the ending probably didn't have all the facts going in and just rushed it.

    On the topic of Ray and Greg though, the average person changes careers on average around 7 times in their lifetime. If they've been working at Bioware since 1995 or so, then this may be their first or second major career change.
    Reply
  • Pennanen
    magnetiteEA isn't as evil as most people believe. A lot of people seem to label any big corporations in the world as "evil". As for this fan reaction, it's quite overblown actually. The ending isn't as bad as most people claim it to be. If you take your time slowly through the game and read everything (email, codex, datapads, and all the little clues that have been provided), the ending makes perfect sense. Most people who reacted to the ending probably didn't have all the facts going in and just rushed it. On the topic of Ray and Greg though, the average person changes careers on average around 7 times in their lifetime. If they've been working at Bioware since 1995 or so, then this may be their first or second major career change.Ea is evil. Every series and developer EA has taken over, is dead or ruined.

    All they care about is money when we need love towards gaming.
    Reply
  • SirGCal
    Ohh yes they are... They (EA) were named 'America's Worst Company' (article on Cnet, just google). They've effectively destroyed the reputation and quality of almost every game company they've absorbed. Pushed deadlines, games not ready for release, etc. Not to mention hacking up the absorbed companies and doing other damage. There's plenty of evidence all over the place.
    Reply
  • EA aren't 'evil'... they're just shit. A blight on creativity and quality. Everything they touch is designed, not to increase the quality of the user experience but to make them more money.

    Bioware used to create quality games until EA came along, things have gone steadily downhill from there. The problem is that buying BioWare isn't the problem, it's the meddling that happens afterwards. ME3 is case-in-point, all of the games major flaws can be attributed to EA's meddling.

    Poor ending - Most likely reason: Pen-holders at EA placing unrealistic/unmoving time constraints on the development team.
    Buggy Multiplayer - Again, not enough play-testing & bug fixing prior to release, also due to inadequate servers, provided by EA.
    Day 1 DLC - From completion of the game to release is a gap of perhaps a month, more like 3 weeks, not enough time to complete the DLC which means it's development started prior to the games completion and smacks of more money-grabbing, perhaps this is just the way things have gone in the gaming sector but it still stinks of EA.
    Reply
  • toxxel
    I can only comment on swtor, but it had some short comings that ruined the experience for many that had been expecting the game for years. The game had a huge budget and yet some how the game comes out on a game engine that wasn't build from the ground up by themselves. Due to the extreme limitation of the game engine, the final release and current on going has issues.

    Many have framerate issues, the game runs terrible for what it offers graphically. The game feels clunky and unresponsive. Content was to easy most felt the game relied to heavy on everything being voice-overed. End game was lacking, raid content was so bugged for most it was not doable. It felt like what devs that were left were on a schedule to fix bugs, instead of fixing them asap within days. They would draw out issues for weeks to months before touching something. Many got tired of what was offered like myself and quit a few months after launch. Some felt they were trying to create another World of Warcraft and not an individual game itself with it's own soul. Such is a game if you take shortcuts and expect the player base to stick around on your bug fix schedule on a game engine you never created.
    Reply
  • rmpumper
    They could team up with Cliff B. and create a new company away from the negative influence of EA and MS.
    Reply
  • john_4
    No, they were tired of whoring themselves around for their pimp EA.
    Reply
  • Its well simple, support Indie Game Developers!

    Steam helps you here by highlighting great Indie Games that are fun and dont cost a fortune.

    EA Sucks more than a Dyson!
    Reply