BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk has criticised games industry executives who have never developed a game for making decisions that led to the studio’s closure.
BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk has criticised games industry executives who have never actually made a game, following Electronic Arts’ decision to shut down the legendary RPG developer.
Zeschuk, who founded BioWare alongside Ray Muzyka and Augustine Yip in 1995, said he learned about the studio’s closure while fishing for steelhead in northern British Columbia.
EA announced last week that it was closing BioWare and ending early development on the next Mass Effect game, with around 50 jobs lost at the studio.
Speaking about the decision in his first interview since the closure, Zeschuk said he was particularly concerned about how the industry treats the developers responsible for creating games.
He told 80 Level: “There’s this weird belief that you can just kind of recreate great games with random people and AI. It doesn’t work.”
The former BioWare boss also questioned whether executives making major decisions about development understand what is required to create a game.
Zeschuk said: “The other harsh reality of almost all these companies, the people that go down the business track never really come from the development track.
“Because none of these people have ever made a game, like, never really sat and made one, like, from start to finish, even a small thing, they just don’t know how it works.”
Zeschuk said EA’s $55 billion leveraged buyout, which was completed in August, gave him an early indication that BioWare’s future could be in trouble.
He suggested the new company’s priorities were likely to focus on major annual franchises such as EA Sports FC and Battlefield.
He said: “BioWare makes these kind of unusual games that take a long time and they’re complicated and so it’s easier just to pump out sports games every year and that’s a better business model in some ways.”
Despite his disappointment, Zeschuk said he had already emotionally separated himself from BioWare after leaving the company in 2012.
He also ruled out attempting to reclaim the studio or Mass Effect rights.
He said: “For me it was time to go, and I kind of walked out of the games business without any intention of ever returning.”
Zeschuk added that he was now happy simply playing games, having no desire to endure the “crucible of game development” again.
BioWare co-founder slams executives who have never ‘made a game’ for killing studio
