Replay: Dr Greg Zeschuk, co-founder BioWare.

Replay: Dr Greg Zeschuk, co-founder BioWare.

Yesterday came the news that EA plans to close BioWare, the Edmonton studio behind Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect and Dragon Age. I thought it was a good moment to revisit my conversation with Dr Greg Zeschuk, one of BioWare’s co-founders. We talk about the games that shaped him, and the long, remarkable journey of a studio that defined computer and console role-playing games for millions of people. Here’s my conversation with Greg Zeschuk.


[Original description] Greg Zeschuk is the co-founder of Bioware. While a medical student at the University of Alberta he told his future wife that, if he could, he’d make video games for a living. After he graduated, the dream came true when, in 1995, he and two friends y founded Bioware in his basement. The following year the trio released Shattered Steel and, two years after that, Baldur’s Gate, which revolutionised the world of computer role-playing games.


In the years that followed Bioware released a string of blockbuster hits, including Mass Effect, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. In 2007, just 12 years after its founding, the companywas sold to Electronic Arts as part of a deal worth $860 million. In recent years, my guest started a brewing company, Blind Enthusiasm, and today runs two microbreweries and a restaurant in Edmunton, where he has spent most of his life.


NOTES


Greg Zeschuk – BioWare & brewery

Greg Zeschuk – Wikipedia

Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company – official site

Blind Enthusiasm – The Monolith taproom, Edmonton

Greg Zeschuk on BioWare’s closure – Wired


BioWare

BioWare – Wikipedia

Ray Muzyka – BioWare co-founder, Wikipedia

Augustine Yip – BioWare co-founder, Wikipedia


Greg’s Perfect Console

Adventure (Atari 2600, 1980) – Wikipedia

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (Apple II, 1981) – Wikipedia

Dungeon Master (Atari ST, 1987) – Wikipedia

Diablo (1996) – Wikipedia

Elden Ring (2022) – official site

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC – Wikipedia


BioWare games discussed

Baldur’s Gate (1998) – Wikipedia

Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000) – Wikipedia

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003) – Wikipedia

Star Wars: The Old Republic (MMO) – official site

Jade Empire (2005) – Wikipedia

Mass Effect trilogy – Wikipedia

Dragon Age: Origins – Wikipedia

Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Wikipedia

MDK2 (2000) – Wikipedia

Shattered Steel (1996) – Wikipedia

Anthem (2019) – Wikipedia


Other games mentioned

Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios

Elden Ring – Wikipedia

Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo

Pool of Radiance (1988) – Wikipedia

Lords of the Fallen (2023) – Steam


Context and references mentioned

EA Spouse – the 2004 open letter that sparked the games industry crunch debate

Elevation Partners – Wikipedia (private equity firm that invested in BioWare)

Interplay Entertainment – Wikipedia (early publisher partner)

Blizzard North – Wikipedia (developers of Diablo)

Order of Canada – Wikipedia (Greg was appointed in 2018)

TSR, Inc. – Wikipedia (original owners of Dungeons & Dragons)

Ian M. Banks – Culture series author, Wikipedia

Alastair Reynolds – science fiction author, Wikipedia


Support the show

My Perfect Console – episode archive

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Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

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