Jump to content

BioWare

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Infinity engine)
"Eclipse Engine" redirects here. For the engine of the same name developed by Digital Eclipse, see Digital Eclipse § Eclipse Engine.

BioWare
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded1 February 1995; 29 years ago (1995-02-01)
Founders
Headquarters
Edmonton, Alberta
,
Canada
Key people
ProductsList of BioWare video games
Number of employees
320[2] (2019)
Parent
SubsidiariesSee § Subsidiaries
Websitebioware.com

BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip. Since 2007, the company has been owned by American publisher Electronic Arts.

BioWare specializes in role-playing video games, and achieved recognition for developing highly praised and successful licensed franchises: Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. They proceeded to make several other successful games based on original intellectual property: Jade Empire, the Mass Effect series, and the Dragon Age series. In 2011, BioWare launched their first massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), Star Wars: The Old Republic.

History

[edit]

Foundation

[edit]

BioWare was founded by Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip.[3][4] Of the founding team, Muzyka, Zeschuk and Yip had recently graduated from medical school at the University of Alberta, and had a background in programming for use in school.[5] Together with Yip, they had created a medical simulation programme.[5] The three also played video games for recreation, eventually deciding to develop their own.[5] Their success in the medical field provided them with the funding they needed to launch a video game company. To make their first game, they pooled their resources, $100,000 CAD each, which resulted in capital of $300,000.[5] The company was incorporated on 1 February 1995, though formally launched on 22 May 1995.[6][7]

1990s: Shattered Steel and Baldur's Gate

[edit]

Their first game, Shattered Steel, began its life as a proof-of-concept demo, similar to the MechWarrior games. This demo was submitted to ten publishers, seven of whom returned to the company with an offer. A publishing deal for Shattered Steel was eventually signed with Interplay Entertainment. Brent Oster and Trent Oster formed Pyrotek Studios, which continued developing Shattered Steel but broke up a year later, with Trent joining BioWare as an early employee to finish the game.[8] BioWare's first game was released the following year. Shattered Steel's release was described by IGN as a "modest success" with "decent sales". Two noteworthy points were the deformable terrain (player weapon damage caused craters in the environment) and zone damage (well-aimed gunfire could shoot mounted weapons off enemies). A sequel to Shattered Steel was planned for 1998 but never realized.[5]

BioWare's founders and staff were keenly interested in both computerized and pen-and-paper variants of role-playing games. Their next development project, therefore, was determined to be a role-playing game. When Interplay financed "exploratory development", BioWare presented the publishers with a demo called Battleground: Infinity. Interplay suggested that the demonstrated gameplay engine would be well-suited to the Dungeons & Dragons licence which it had acquired from Strategic Simulations. Accordingly, Infinity was reworked in line with the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset.[5]

The result was Baldur's Gate, with a development cycle of three years. During this time, the three doctors continued to practice medicine. The demands of development later prompted Muzyka and Zeschuck to leave medicine and move into full-time development. Augustine Yip decided to continue with his medical practice. Baldur's Gate sold more than two million copies after its release, nearly matching the sales of Diablo. Following the success of Baldur's Gate, the Infinity Engine was used for the games Planescape: Torment and the Icewind Dale series. The success of Baldur's Gate was followed by an expansion pack for the game: Tales of the Sword Coast.[9]

2000s: EA Acquisition, Mass Effect & Dragon Age

[edit]
Logo used by BioWare for almost two decades, from Baldur's Gate to Mass Effect: Andromeda

At this point, BioWare decided to return to the action genre. The company's initial thought was to develop a sequel to Shattered Steel, but eventually a sequel to MDK from Shiny Entertainment was chosen for development.[5] MDK2 was released on PC, Dreamcast, and eventually PlayStation 2, offering BioWare their first taste of developing games for consoles.[9] MDK2 drew the same level of praise as its predecessor but, despite the success, BioWare returned to the Baldur's Gate series for their next project.[5]

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn was released in 2000,[9] two years after the release of Baldur's Gate.[5] Baldur's Gate II sold two million copies, matching the sales of the first game in the series. However, the success of both Baldur's Gate II and MDK2 was not enough to stabilize Interplay financially.[5] Subsequently, BioWare began to work with Infogrames, which was later renamed to Atari.[9] Neverwinter Nights was originally to be published by Interplay, but the company lost the licence of the game to Atari and part of their Dungeons & Dragons licence to BioWare. After selling their D&D licence to Atari, BioWare developed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire. It had publishing relationships with Interplay Entertainment, Infogrames, under its new name Atari, LucasArts, and Microsoft.

The next few years saw a number of changes in BioWare's corporate status. In November 2005, it was announced that BioWare and Pandemic Studios (itself founded by former Activision employees) would be joining forces (with each maintaining their own branding), with private equity fund Elevation Partners investing in the newly named VG Holding Corp. partnership. On 11 October 2007, it was announced that VG Holding Corp. had been bought by Electronic Arts for US$775 million (equivalent to $1.14 billion in 2023).[10] BioWare therefore became a unit of EA, but still retained its own branding.

In 2007, BioWare released the science fiction role-playing game Mass Effect. The following year, BioWare released Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood on the Nintendo DS, its first title for a handheld game console. Later, EA announced that BioWare would merge with Mythic Entertainment, another division of EA who would rename itself as BioWare Mythic after the deal.[11]

The growth of the MMORPG group as part of Electronic Arts in 2008 resulted in three additional studios being added to the BioWare group outside BioWare's original home base in Edmonton. The first, located in Austin, Texas, and headed by industry veterans Gordon Walton and Richard Vogel, was created to work on the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG project. Both the studio and the project were announced on 13 March 2006. On 2 March 2009, BioWare announced it had opened a new studio in Montreal, Quebec, to assist with existing projects as necessary.[12]

During the mid-2000s, BioWare staff developed a number of video game projects which were ultimately canceled. A handheld spin-off for Mass Effect franchise titled Mass Effect: Corsair, inspired by the gameplay of Star Control and played from a first-person perspective, was briefly explored as a potential project for the Nintendo DS in 2008.[13] A sequel to Jade Empire was under development at one point.[14] The project transitioned into a spiritual successor codenamed Revolver, which was canceled by 2008.[14] Trent Oster led a team which worked on a spy-themed role-playing game codenamed Agent prior to his second departure from BioWare in 2009.[15] Unused concept art for Agent and Revolver are featured in the art book BioWare: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development, published in January 2021.[14]

On 24 June 2009, Electronic Arts announced a restructuring of their role-playing and massively multiplayer online games development into a new group that included both Mythic Entertainment and BioWare. Ray Muzyka, co-founder and general manager of BioWare, was appointed the group general manager of this newly formed "BioWare Group". BioWare's other co-founder, Greg Zeschuk, became the Group Creative Officer for the new MMORPG studio group. BioWare's studios remained unchanged and continued to report to Muzyka. Near the end of 2009, BioWare released the critically acclaimed fantasy role-playing game Dragon Age: Origins.[16]

2010s: Muzyka and Zeschuk's departure, Mass Effect on hiatus, Anthem

[edit]

In January 2010, BioWare released the sequel to Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, which would go on to receive critical acclaim and many awards. The company announced that it would be opening up a new customer service office in Galway, Ireland, in 2011.[17] BioWare completed three major games between 2011 and 2012. The massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Star Wars: The Old Republic is based on BioWare's previous contribution to the Star Wars franchise,[18] and was announced on 21 October 2008, although BioWare had first mentioned an unspecified new collaboration with LucasArts in October the previous year.[19] The other games were Dragon Age II, the sequel to Dragon Age: Origins, and Mass Effect 3.[20][21][22][23]

Following the release of Mass Effect 3 in March 2012, numerous players complained about its endings failing to fulfill the developer's earlier promises regarding the conclusion of the trilogy. In response to the controversy surrounding the game's ending sequence, BioWare announced on 5 April that they would reschedule their post-release content production and release an "Extended Cut" DLC that would expand the original endings and address the most common points of critique.[24] The Extended Cut was released as a free download on 26 June 2012.[25] On 18 September 2012, the next day after the official announcement of the third Dragon Age title,[26] both Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, two of the remaining co-founders of BioWare, simultaneously announced they would be retiring from the gaming industry.[27][28] After almost a year without a formal head, EA appointed Matthew Bromberg the group general manager of the BioWare label on 9 September 2013. Former CEO and president of Major League Gaming, Bromberg worked as the general manager of BioWare Austin since 2012; after his promotion, Jeff Hickman took over as the general manager in Austin. Aaryn Flynn remained in charge of BioWare Canada (Edmonton and Montreal) and Jon Van Caneghem, the head of Victory Games and Waystone Studio (also parts of the BioWare label).[29]

After acquiring and dismantling LucasArts, The Walt Disney Company announced in May 2013 that Electronic Arts will produce future Star Wars games, "in addition to the BioWare team, which is already developing for the Star Wars franchise."[30] In November 2013, teaser images from the next instalment of the Mass Effect series were released.[31] At E3 2014, BioWare Edmonton announced working on a new (unnamed) original intellectual property in addition to continuing their established series.[32] Another new IP, titled Shadow Realms is an episodic 4 vs. 1 story-driven online action role-playing game, and was announced on Gamescom 2014.[33] On 9 February 2015, BioWare Austin announced that development on Shadow Realms would not continue.[34][35]

Casey Hudson, the creator of the Mass Effect series, left BioWare in May 2014, while Drew Karpyshyn, writer of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the first two Mass Effect games, returned in 2015.[36] Dragon Age's writer David Gaider left BioWare in January 2016.[37] Chris Wynn and Chris Schlerf, both of whom had an important role in the development of Mass Effect: Andromeda, left in December 2015 and February 2016 respectively.[38] Alexis Kennedy, co-founder of Failbetter Games and the creative director of Dragon Age: The Last Court, joined BioWare as its "first ever guest writer" in September 2016.[39]

On 13 September 2016, EA announced the formation of EA Worldwide Studios, which would consist of BioWare Studios, EA Mobile, and Maxis, and led by DICE co-founder Patrick Soderlund. At the same time, Samantha Ryan, head of EA Mobile and Maxis, was appointed the new head of BioWare Studios.[40] Released in March 2017, Andromeda was at the center of controversy of equal proportions, if not higher than that around the third chapter; starting with heavy criticisms that were addressed before the video game was released[41] to the lukewarm response received by the specialized press and the fandom[42] with sales lower than the previous Mass Effect games.[43] Given the circumstances Electronic Arts had reportedly frozen the entire Mass Effect series, downgrading the BioWare Montréal branch from a leading development team to a support team,[44] and later merging it into Motive Studios.[45]

During EA's EA Play pre-E3 press conference on 10 June 2017, BioWare revealed Anthem, a new action role-playing game,[46] with BioWare's story writer, Drew Karpyshyn, who previously worked on Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, contributing to the new game.[47] In July 2017, Aaryn Flynn, general manager of BioWare, announced that he would depart from the company. Hudson returned to BioWare as its new general manager.[48] Lead story developer for Jade Empire and Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw announced his departure from BioWare in October 2017 after 14 years with the company.[49] James Ohlen, the lead designer of the Baldur's Gate series, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, and Dragon Age: Origins, as well as the game director of The Old Republic MMO, left the studio after 22 years in July 2018.[50]

On 24 September 2019, it was announced that BioWare had moved from their old location on Calgary Trail into 3 stories of the Epcor Tower in downtown Edmonton.[51]

2020s: New Dragon Age and Mass Effect games

[edit]

On 7 November 2020 or "N7 Day", a date first declared in 2012 by BioWare as an annual "worldwide celebration" of the Mass Effect franchise, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition was announced as well as an all-new entry to the franchise that had just started development.[52]

On 3 December 2020, both Hudson and Mark Darrah, the executive producer on the Dragon Age series, announced their departures from the studio. Electronic Arts stated that work on the Mass Effect and Dragon Age games would still continue at the studio.[53]

On 10 December 2020, a teaser trailer for the next Mass Effect game was shown at The Game Awards.[54]

On 14 May 2021, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition was released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4,[55] and the Xbox One series.[56]

On 23 August 2023, about 50 BioWare developers were laid off.[57] A group of former employees later sued EA, seeking better severance following their layoffs.[58]

On 31 October 2024, the fourth instalment in the Dragon Age series, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, was released. The game received "generally favorable" reviews from critics for its Windows and PlayStation 5 versions[59][60] and "universal acclaim" for its Xbox Series X/S version, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic.[61] Dragon Age: The Veilguard was review bombed by users for being " 'woke,' 'DEI,' 'propaganda,' and 'agenda-driven' " on Metacritic, causing the platform to respond with a statement and by removing user reviews which had violated their guidelines.[62] Veilguard is the first BioWare game that allows the player character to identify as transgender.[63] On 7 November 2024, or "N7 Day", BioWare released a patch which added several Mass Effect-inspired costumes into the game.[64]

In late October 2024, following the release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, creative director John Epler stated that BioWare's attention had "shifted entirely to the next Mass Effect [game]" in an interview with Rolling Stone.[65]

Amazon MGM Studios officially confirmed on 7 November 2024 that a Mass Effect TV series is in development, following negotiations that had started in late 2021. BioWare executive producer Michael Gamble will also act as an executive producer on the TV adaptation.[66][67]

Technology

[edit]

Between 1998 and 2011, BioWare developed a number of in-house video game engines to serve as technical basis for their games. Some of these engines were then licensed to other companies to develop their own games. Others came with modding toolkits, allowing the fan community to implement original adventures using the technology of BioWare's games.

BioWare created the Infinity Engine to use it as a core component for development of the Baldur's Gate series (1998–2001), which were 2D role-playing video games based on Dungeons & Dragons. The engine was also used by Black Isle Studios to create the critically acclaimed Planescape: Torment (1999) and the Icewind Dale series (2000–2002). When Beamdog sought out a license from BioWare and started engineering enhanced versions of these games in 2012, they created an updated version of the Infinity Engine, referred to as the "Infinity Enhanced Engine" (alternatively Infinity Plus Engine or Infinity Bless Engine).[68]

The Aurora Engine was the successor to the Infinity Engine, featuring full 3D environments, real-time lighting and shadows, and surround sound.[69] BioWare used the Aurora Engine to produce their 2002 Neverwinter Nights, as well as two expansion packs. The game included the Aurora toolset, a collection of tools allowing users to create their own digital adventure modules to be played either in single-player or in online multiplayer. The toolset enjoyed great popularity among the modding community, with over a thousand fan-made modules produced in it within half a year after the release.[70] Obsidian Entertainment (successor to Black Isle Studios) used an updated version of BioWare's Aurora, titled "Electron Engine", to produce Neverwinter Nights 2 (2006) and its three expansion packs (2007–2009). Like the original, the Electron toolset was released with the game.[71] The Polish studio CD Projekt Red used the Aurora Engine to develop The Witcher, the 2007 video game adaptation of the Polish fantasy novel series, although the rendering module was rewritten from scratch.[72]

BioWare used an updated version of the Aurora, titled the Odyssey Engine, to produce Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic in 2003 and their first original intellectual property role-playing game Jade Empire in 2005. The Odyssey Engine was the first BioWare engine to allow developing for video game consoles, with both Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire originally released for the Xbox before being ported to the PC platform. Obsidian Entertainment used the Odyssey Engine to develop Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (2004), a sequel to the original Knights of the Old Republic. BioWare maintained limited oversight on Obsidian's development of The Sith Lords, as well as Neverwinter Nights 2.[73]

The Eclipse Engine succeeded the Odyssey Engine and, among other things, supported PhysX hardware acceleration.[74] It was used to produce Dragon Age: Origins (2009) and its expansion pack Awakening (2010). Like Neverwinter Nights, Origins was released with a toolset to allow the players to run their own adventure modules on the Eclipse Engine.[75] An upgraded version of the Eclipse Engine, internally known as the Lycium Engine, was used to produce Dragon Age II (2011).[76]

In September 2004, BioWare acquired a license to use Unreal Engine 3 from developer Epic Games.[77][78] Unreal Engine 3 would ultimately be used to develop the original Mass Effect trilogy (2007–2012), as well as the remastered Mass Effect: Legendary Edition in 2021.[79][80]

In 2013, EA confirmed that all future games developed by BioWare will be made on DICE's Frostbite engine.[81] All of BioWare's games since the confirmation (Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Anthem, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard) were developed using Frostbite 3 as part of the general move towards a unified technology foundation across all of Electronic Arts' development studios.[82][83]

Subsidiaries

[edit]
  • BioWare Austin in Austin, Texas; formed in March 2006 specifically to develop Star Wars: The Old Republic (with assistance from BioWare Edmonton), BioWare Austin later began working on a new IP called Shadow Realms,[84] but production was shelved in February 2015 in order to focus on the continuing production of Dragon Age: Inquisition and The Old Republic.[85] On 27 June 2023, BioWare announced that its Austin branch handed SWTOR off to Broadsword Online Games to work on the next Dragon Age and Mass Effect installments with the Edmonton studio.[86]

Former

[edit]

Games developed

[edit]
Main article: List of BioWare video games

Awards and recognition

[edit]

The full list of awards can be found on their web site.[97]

  • Spike TV's 2010 Video Game Awards: Studio of the Year (2010)
  • Hall of Fame induction (2010)[98]

In addition to numerous game awards, in October 2008, the company was named one of Alberta's Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which was announced by the Calgary Herald[99] and the Edmonton Journal.[100][101]

BioWare's co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk were named as members of the Order of Canada in December 2018 "for [their] revolutionary contributions to the video game industry as a developer and co-founder of an internationally renowned studio."[102]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Gary McKay confirmed as Vice-president and General manager permanent of BioWare Edmonton and Austin". BioWare. 6 June 2021. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  2. ^ "BioWare moves in to new 3-storey downtown Edmonton headquarters". Global News. 24 September 2019. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  3. ^ "The History of BioWare".
  4. ^ Mason, Graeme (30 September 2018). "How BioWare revolutionised the RPG". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "IGN Presents the History of BioWare". 21 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2 January 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  6. ^ Keefer, John (31 March 2006). "GameSpy Retro: Developer Origins, Page 12 of 19". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 9 June 2007.
  7. ^ Matulef, Jeffrey (22 May 2015). "BioWare turns 20 today". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  8. ^ Peel, Dan (23 November 2012). "Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition interview: Trent Oster on building "BioWare 0.6 Mark 2"". Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  9. ^ a b c d Whitehead, Dan (16 November 2007). "The History of BioWare". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  10. ^ Klepek, Patrick (11 October 2007). "EA Acquires BioWare, Pandemic". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 22 May 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
  11. ^ Fahey, Mike (24 June 2009). "EA Combines Mythic And BioWare Into A Giant RPG Robot". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  12. ^ a b Thorsen, Tor (2 March 2009). "BioWare Mass-ing Montreal devs". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 21 June 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  13. ^ Koch, Cameron (29 June 2021). "Mass Effect: Corsair Would Have Been First-Person Space Sim For The Nintendo DS". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  14. ^ a b c Lawardorn, Damien (25 January 2021). "BioWare Art Revealed for Scrapped Jade Empire Successor, Project Revolver". The Escapist. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  15. ^ O'Connor, Alice (7 December 2012). "BioWare's cancelled spy RPG 'Agent' revealed". Shacknews. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  16. ^ McEloy, Justin (2 March 2009). "Dragon Age: Origins delayed to second half of 2009". Polygon. Archived from the original on 4 November 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  17. ^ "Electronic Arts to create 200 jobs in Galway". Archived from the original on 13 March 2012.
  18. ^ Glasser, AJ (22 October 2008). "Star Wars: The Old Republic – What We Know So Far". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 10 July 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
  19. ^ "LucasArts and BioWare Corp. to Create Ground-Breaking Interactive Entertainment Product". LucasArts.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
  20. ^ "ActionTrip Mass Effect Interview". Archived from the original on 18 March 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  21. ^ Purchese, Robert (28 January 2010). "BioWare's Illusive Man Live QA". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on 31 January 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  22. ^ Ransom-Wiley, James (29 January 2010). "BioWare says Dragon Age 2 to look 'super hot'". Joystiq. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  23. ^ Brightman, James (4 June 2010). "BioWare on RPG Success, Old Republic, Natal and More". industrygamers.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  24. ^ "Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut". BioWare. 5 April 2012. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  25. ^ "Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut". BioWare. 22 June 2012. Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  26. ^ Goldfarb, Andrew (17 September 2012). "Dragon Age 3: Inquisition Announced". IGN. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  27. ^ Muzyka, Ray (18 September 2012). "From Ray Muzyka". BioWare Blog. Archived from the original on 21 March 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  28. ^ Zeschuk, Greg (18 September 2012). "From Greg Zeschuk". BioWare Blog. Archived from the original on 21 March 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  29. ^ a b Takahashi, Dean (9 September 2013). "EA names new chief of BioWare label (exclusive)". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 10 September 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  30. ^ Gibeau, Frank (6 May 2013). "EA and Disney Team Up on New Star Wars Games". Electronic Arts. Archived from the original on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  31. ^ a b Phillips, Tom (8 November 2013). "Mass Effect 4 teaser images released by BioWare". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  32. ^ Dyer, Mitch (9 June 2014). "E3 2014: Mass Effect Developer BioWare Teases New IP". IGN. Archived from the original on 12 June 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  33. ^ "Shadow Realms First Gameplay – IGN Live: Gamescom 2014". IGN. 15 August 2015. Archived from the original on 24 January 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  34. ^ "An Important Update on Shadow Realms". Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  35. ^ "BioWare's Multiplayer PC Game Shadow Realms Canceled". 9 February 2015. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  36. ^ Chalk, Andy (21 September 2015). "Mass Effect lead writer Drew Karpyshyn returns to BioWare". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  37. ^ Purchese, Robert (9 February 2016). "Veteran BioWare writer David Gaider seems to have a new job". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 10 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  38. ^ Shea, Brian (15 February 2016). "Mass Effect: Andromeda Lead Writer Leaves BioWare To Join Bungie". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 18 February 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  39. ^ Smith, Adam (12 September 2016). "Failbetter Founder Alexis Kennedy Writing For BioWare". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  40. ^ Mascarenhas, Hyacinth (15 September 2016). "EA Worldwide Studios: BioWare. EA Mobile and Maxis merged". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  41. ^ "Bioware Acknowledges 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' Criticism". tomshardware.com. 30 March 2017. Archived from the original on 1 May 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  42. ^ "Mass Effect Andromeda Review Roundup: Most Polarizing Game of the Year". tomsguide.com. 20 March 2017. Archived from the original on 9 May 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  43. ^ "Mass Effect Andromeda physical launch sales down on ME3". eurogamer.net. 27 March 2017. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  44. ^ "Sources: BioWare Montreal Scaled Down, Mass Effect Put On Ice For Now". Kotaku.com. 10 May 2017. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  45. ^ Chalk, Andy (2 August 2017). "BioWare Montreal is being merged into EA Motive". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  46. ^ "E3 2017: BioWare Reveals New Project, Anthem". IGN. 10 June 2017. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  47. ^ "Mass Effect 1, 2 and KOTOR writer is working on Anthem, Bioware's new IP". Neowin. Archived from the original on 14 June 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  48. ^ Juba, Joe (18 July 2017). "BioWare's Aaryn Flynn Leaves Company, Casey Hudson Returns". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  49. ^ McWhertor, Michael (12 October 2017). "Dragon Age creative director leaves BioWare". Polygon. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  50. ^ Pavlovic, Uros (13 July 2018). "Another BioWare Departure as Veteran Designer James Ohlen Leaves". PlayStationLifeStyle.net. Archived from the original on 27 July 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  51. ^ Labine, Jeff (24 September 2019). "New home: BioWare relocates to 75,000-square-foot downtown Edmonton location". Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  52. ^ "BioWare confirms a brand new Mass Effect and remasters are coming". Video Games Chronicle. 7 November 2020. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  53. ^ Parrish, Ash (3 December 2020). "BioWare Studio Head, Dragon Age Producer Both Leave Studio". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  54. ^ "A first Mass Effect trailer was shown at the Game Awards". CNET. 10 December 2020. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  55. ^ Bolt, Neil (20 May 2021). "Mass Effect Legendary Edition Review (PS4) – A Solid And Impactful Remaster To One Of The Greatest Trilogies In Gaming". PSU. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  56. ^ Nelson, Mike (14 May 2021). "Mass Effect Legendary Edition Now Available for Xbox One and Xbox Series..." Xbox. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  57. ^ Square, Push (23 August 2023). "BioWare Cuts Roughly 50 Jobs, But Still Confident Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Will Reach 'Full Potential'". Push Square. Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  58. ^ "Former Dragon Age staff seek further compensation following layoffs". Eurogamer.net. 4 October 2023. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  59. ^ "Dragon Age: The Veilguard (PC Critic Reviews)". www.metacritic.com. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  60. ^ "Dragon Age: The Veilguard (PlayStation 5 Critic Reviews)". www.metacritic.com. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  61. ^ "Dragon Age: The Veilguard (Xbox Series X Critic Reviews)". www.metacritic.com. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  62. ^ Tassi, Paul. "Metacritic Responds To 'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' Review Bombing". Forbes. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  63. ^ Radulovic, Petrana (6 November 2024). "Why the Dragon Age: The Veilguard team designed its trans-inclusive storylines". Polygon. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  64. ^ Chalk, Andy (8 November 2024). "Dragon Age: The Veilguard's first patch adds some Mass Effect flair to your wardrobe". PC Gamer. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  65. ^ Yang, George (31 October 2024). "'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' Is Bioware's Best Game in Ages. Here's How They Got There". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  66. ^ Otterson, Joe (7 November 2024). "'Mass Effect' TV Series in the Works at Amazon From 'Fast & Furious 9' Writer (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  67. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (23 November 2021). "'The Wheel Of Time' Makes Strong Debut As Amazon Prime Video Doubles Down On Genre With 'Mass Effect' Adaptation & Prepares To Usher In 'LOTR'". Deadline. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  68. ^ "Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition announced at PAX". PC Gamer. 31 August 2014. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  69. ^ Shields, Jo (27 August 2002). "The new night". HEXUS.net. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
  70. ^ Greig, Scott; et al. (4 December 2002). "Postmortem: Bioware's Neverwinter Nights". Gamasutra. p. 4. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  71. ^ "Neverwinter Nights 2 Toolset". Archived from the original on 21 July 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  72. ^ Bayer, Thilo; Reuther, Philipp (27 October 2022). "15 Jahre The Witcher 1: CD Projekt Reds erster Streich im Retro-Rückblick [Hinweis]". PC Games Hardware (in German). Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  73. ^ "Neverwinter Nights 2 Officially Announced". IGN. 4 August 2004. Archived from the original on 21 July 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  74. ^ Hatfield, Daemon (7 November 2006). "BioWare Integrates PhysX into Eclipse". IGN. News Corporation. Archived from the original on 4 September 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  75. ^ "Dragon Age Origins Toolset". BioWare Social Network. Archived from the original on 20 April 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  76. ^ Hinkle, David (8 February 2011). "Dragon Age 2 preview: A shot of adrenaline". Joystiq. Archived from the original on 13 February 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2011. While it might appear to run on a new engine, Dragon Age 2 employs an evolved version of Origins' Eclipse engine (now called the Lycium engine internally).
  77. ^ "BioWare Licenses Unreal® Engine 3". GamesIndustry.biz. 17 September 2004. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  78. ^ "All-new BioWare title to use Unreal 3 tech". Eurogamer. 17 September 2004. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  79. ^ "Why Mass Effect: Legendary Edition Doesn't Use Unreal Engine 4". GameSpot. 3 February 2021. Archived from the original on 6 February 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  80. ^ "Mass Effect: Legendary Edition uses Unreal Engine 3 for good reason according to the developers". GamesRadar+. 4 February 2021. Archived from the original on 6 February 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  81. ^ Gaston, Martin (28 March 2013). "Next Mass Effect and Dragon Age games using Frostbite 3". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 31 March 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  82. ^ Seppala, Timothy J. (19 November 2013). "From Battlefield to Mass Effect: How one engine is shaping the future of EA Games". Engadget. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  83. ^ "How the Frostbite Engine Became a Nightmare for EA in General, and BioWare in Particular". usgamer.net. 15 April 2019. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  84. ^ Gera, Emily (13 August 2014). "Shadow Realms is the next game from BioWare Austin". Video Games. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  85. ^ Hickman, Jeff. "An Important Update on Shadow Realms". Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  86. ^ Gary McKay; Keith Kanneg (27 June 2023). "The Future is Bright for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™". BioWare Blog. Archived from the original on 2 July 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  87. ^ Kerr, Chris (1 August 2017). "EA confirms BioWare Montreal is merging with Motive". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  88. ^ Yin, Wesley (6 March 2013). "EA cans Dead Space series following poor sales of Dead Space 3 – report • News •". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  89. ^ Yin, Wesley (5 March 2013). "Dragon Age: Legends dev BioWare San Francisco shuts down – report". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  90. ^ Chalk, Andy (5 March 2013). "The Escapist : News : EA Closes BioWare San Francisco – UPDATED". Escapistmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 4 September 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  91. ^ Schreier, Jason (29 May 2014). "EA Shuts Down Longtime Game Studio Mythic Entertainment". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  92. ^ a b Reilly, Jim (8 November 2012). "Mythic, Victory Drop 'BioWare' Label". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  93. ^ "Exclusive Interview with Victory Games GM Jon Van Caneghem". CommandAndConquer.com. Electronic Arts. 24 February 2011. Archived from the original on 12 March 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  94. ^ McWhertor, Michael (29 October 2013). "EA cancels Command & Conquer, closes development studio". Polygon. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  95. ^ Nelson, Thomas (4 November 2014). "EA Cancels Production of Dawngate, Disbands Waystone Games". TechRaptor. Archived from the original on 5 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  96. ^ Cifaldi, Frank (11 December 2011). "Victory Games Latest EA Studio To Be Renamed 'BioWare'". gamasutra.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  97. ^ "BioWare: BioWare Corporate And Community Awards". Archived from the original on 27 November 2010.
  98. ^ "BioWare's mass effect on video games results in Hall of Fame induction". USA Today. 7 December 2010. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  99. ^ "Alberta's top 40 places to work". Calgary Herald. 18 October 2008. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015.
  100. ^ "Alberta's best focus on attracting, keeping staff". Edmonton Journal. 31 October 2008. Archived from the original on 5 February 2009.
  101. ^ "All jobs at BioWare ULC | Eluta.ca". www.eluta.ca. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  102. ^ "'Amazing honour': Edmonton BioWare founders receive Order of Canada | CBC News". Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BioWare&oldid=1257062462#Technology"