f13.net

Not just leaving Bioware, but retiring from game development entirely? QQ.

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.

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.

I suspect they would have been a lot happier had they gone with smaller budgets, accepted potentially smaller audiences, and made more niche titles. You could say this about 99% of game developers probably. Once you reach a certain audience size and budget level the "challenge of creation" is a challenge of budgeting, outsourcing, herding cats, running focus tests, developing large features merely to check boxes, etc - very little of it scratches the itch to create in a truly creative sense.

I suspect they would have been a lot happier

Unless you read the kickstarter thread where apparently this is a bad thing.

Personally, if I owned a niche developer, who had released a bunch of titles everyone was proud of, then EA came among and offered me a wheelbarrow full of cash, I'd consider that I had won at games development,  and be entirely happy no matter what EA do in future.

^^^
This. They done good for themselves. They deserve a break are off to snort cocaine off of hooker's asses and laugh about those left behind.

And the slow decline into eventual absorption has begun.  :oh_i_see:

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

It sounds like you're suggesting that creativity can't come from the top, which I think is painting with too broad a brush.

No, I'm saying that those who move up the ladder to the top often find themselves out of the creative positions.  They're managing projects, timelines, people, the company itself, doing the paperwork around proposals, and the glad-handing for new clients and funding.  Which isn't all that creative. At least not in the sense that it's what inspired them to enter the industry and create.   The lament I most frequently hear among the management levels is, "I went to Architecture/ Design school, not Business."

I know there's people here that work in the industry but the whole, "well, they got paid, good for them" excuse doesn't particularly fly with me considering it contributes to the decline of the industry and destruction of interesting IP.

Dunno if this is already common knowledge, but it looks like Bioware's taking this opportunity to reveal that it's working on Mass Effect 4, and a new series about which they're saying nothing other than "it exists."

http://blog.bioware.com/2012/09/18/from-aaryn-flynn/ (http://blog.bioware.com/2012/09/18/from-aaryn-flynn/)

I can count on zero hands the number of times these folks have been relevant in the last decade for me. (Prior to that, man, I fucking loved me some Bioware)

Edit: What I'm saying is, I don't see how this contributes to a damn thing.

Bioware General Manager Aaryn Flynn made a blog-post (http://blog.bioware.com/2012/09/18/from-aaryn-flynn/) explaining that BioWare still thrives and prospers.
"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"

5 years or not, this is almost certain to be the end of the period their golden handcuffs expire. It is neither unusual nor surprising for the founders of a company that sells itself will leave at the end of that period. The reason you sell a successful company is to retire, they'd have done so sooner if not for the incentives vesting.

TychoBrahe @TychoBrahe   19h
As somebody with a company people are always trying to buy, this is almost textbook. Acquisition with a five year "backend" payout.

I can count on zero hands the number of times these folks have been relevant in the last decade for me. (Prior to that, man, I fucking loved me some Bioware)

Edit: What I'm saying is, I don't see how this contributes to a damn thing.

I wouldn't mind playing an RPG like it's 1999 ...

Yah, the five year thing is pretty standard.  I work on a product here at IBM that was part of an acquisition. The founders of a company IBM acquired got a 5 year deal as well.  They were active for the first few years, but as soon as the 5 was nearing, they ceased to exist and then all left the minute it was up. 

Bioware is just a label now, barely a brand.  It has a few IPs that I enjoy and hopefully their continued existence means some more story based RPGs to come. 

Maybe they'll hook up with Mark Jacobs and Richard Garriott to start PC gaming's version of Prince and The Revolution  :why_so_serious:

If you give a crap about your company, you don't sell it to EA. Marketing speech about "opportunities and synergy effects" nonwithstanding.

Ray and Greg sold BioWare to Elevation Partners, a private investment group whose board, at the time, included John Riccitello. It was Elevation that sold the company to EA, in a deal brokered by newly hired EA CEO John Riccitello.

You sir are a legend.

Well given EA bullshit, swtor bombing, and the Mass Effect 3 ending at least they are alive =p

Ex-BioWare co-founder and Baldur’s Gate developer, Trent Oster, believes the negative fan reaction to Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic could have attributed to Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk’s decision to leave BioWare and the games industry.

“The last time I met up with [Greg], I felt his exhaustion,” explained Oster. "Punch out, eject, get the hell out", was my suggestions to him and it hit closer to the mark than I had realised. I also think the Mass Effect 3 fan reaction and the Old Republic fans negativity was just too much.”

“Ray surprised me,” explained Oster. “I had him pegged as an EA lifer. My thought was the Ray agenda was to first usurp Frank Gibeau and then later John Riccotello as CEO.”

“I'm sure the internal culture at EA had pinned the Old Republic conversion to free to play as a failure and hung that completely on Ray, so that would have hurt his upward climb. But, I figured he would fight harder. EA upper management must have been even worse than I thought.”

"EA upper management must have been even worse than I thought.”

This quote makes me giggle.

I respect/revere fans, because they speak with deep, honest passion. Journalists speculating on ill-founded rumors should reassess approach.

Good websites demand clarity and credibility – lesser ones enable ill-informed individuals to make stuff up about other people.

https://twitter.com/RayMuzyka?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=fb&utm_campaign=RayMuzyka&utm_content=251808651671642113

“I'm sure the internal culture at EA had pinned the Old Republic conversion to free to play as a failure and hung that completely on Ray, so that would have hurt his upward climb. But, I figured he would fight harder. EA upper management must have been even worse than I thought.”

"This guy completely misjudged the space, vastly oversold the market for the product and made a series of incredibly costly decisions - put him on the CEO fast track!"

Wow. That's about as sharp and direct a retort as I've ever seen from Ray.

In the MMO industry I thought that was pretty much how it worked.