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

BioWare focuses on creating role-playing video games. It became well-known for developing popular and highly praised licensed games, including Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Later, the company created several successful games based on its own original ideas, such as Jade Empire, the Mass Effect series, and the Dragon Age series. In 2011, BioWare released its first massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), titled Star Wars: The Old Republic.

History

BioWare was founded by Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip. At the time, Muzyka, Zeschuk, and Yip had recently finished medical school at the University of Alberta and had experience with programming for school projects. Together, they created a medical simulation program. They also enjoyed playing video games and decided to make their own. Their success in the medical field helped them raise money to start a video game company. Each of the three founders contributed $100,000 CAD, totaling $300,000 for the company. The company was officially registered on February 1, 1995, and officially launched on May 22, 1995.

Their first game, Shattered Steel, began as a sample game to show their idea, similar to the MechWarrior games. This sample was sent to ten publishers, and seven offered to work with BioWare. A deal to publish Shattered Steel was made with Interplay Entertainment. Brent Oster and Trent Oster started Pyrotek Studios to continue developing Shattered Steel, but the company ended after one year. Trent Oster joined BioWare as an early employee to finish the game. Shattered Steel was released the next year. IGN described the game as a "modest success" with "good sales." Two notable features were ground that changed when hit by weapons and enemies losing weapons from well-aimed shots. A sequel to Shattered Steel was planned for 1998 but was never made.

BioWare’s founders and staff were interested in both computer and paper-based role-playing games. Their next project was a role-playing game. When Interplay provided money to explore new ideas, BioWare created a sample called Battleground: Infinity. Interplay suggested that the game’s design would work well with the Dungeons & Dragons license it had acquired. Infinity was then changed to match Dungeons & Dragons rules.

The result was Baldur's Gate, which took three years to develop. During this time, the three doctors continued their medical work. Later, Muzyka and Zeschuk left medicine to focus on game development full-time, while Yip continued his medical practice. Baldur's Gate sold over two million copies, nearly matching the sales of Diablo. After Baldur's Gate’s success, the same game engine was used for Planescape: Torment and the Icewind Dale series. An expansion pack for Baldur's Gate, called Tales of the Sword Coast, was also released.

At this point, BioWare decided to return to action games. They first considered making a sequel to Shattered Steel, but instead chose to develop a sequel to MDK from Shiny Entertainment. MDK2 was released on PC, Dreamcast, and PlayStation 2, giving BioWare their first experience making games for consoles. MDK2 received the same praise as its predecessor, but BioWare returned to the Baldur's Gate series for their next project.

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn was released in 2000, two years after Baldur's Gate. Baldur's Gate II sold two million copies, matching the sales of the first game. However, the success of Baldur's Gate II and MDK2 was not enough to help Interplay financially. BioWare then worked with Infogrames, later renamed Atari. Neverwinter Nights was originally planned for Interplay, but Atari took the license. After selling the Dungeons & Dragons license to Atari, BioWare developed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire. BioWare had publishing deals with Interplay, Infogrames (later Atari), LucasArts, and Microsoft.

In the years following, BioWare changed its business structure. In November 2005, BioWare and Pandemic Studios (founded by former Activision employees) joined forces, with Elevation Partners investing in the new company, VG Holding Corp. On October 11, 2007, VG Holding Corp. was bought by Electronic Arts for $775 million (equivalent to $1.2 billion in 2025). BioWare became part of EA but kept its own brand.

In 2007, BioWare released the science fiction role-playing game Mass Effect. The next year, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood was released for the Nintendo DS, BioWare’s first handheld game. Later, EA announced that BioWare would merge with Mythic Entertainment, which would be renamed BioWare Mythic.

In 2008, EA added three new studios to BioWare’s group. The first, in Austin, Texas, was led by Gordon Walton and Richard Vogel and worked on Star Wars: The Old Republic. A studio in Montreal, Quebec, opened in 2009 to help with projects.

During the mid-2000s, BioWare worked on several projects that were canceled. A handheld game called Mass Effect: Corsair was briefly considered for the Nintendo DS in 2008. A sequel to Jade Empire was planned but shifted into a different project called Revolver, which was canceled by 2008. A spy-themed game called Agent was also canceled. Unused art from these projects was later published in BioWare: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development in 2021.

On June 24, 2009, EA reorganized its role-playing and online game development into a new group that included BioWare and Mythic Entertainment. Ray Muzyka, co-founder of BioWare, became the head of this group. Greg Zeschuk became the Group Creative Officer for the new MMORPG studio group. BioWare’s studios remained unchanged and continued reporting to Muzyka. In late 2009, BioWare released Dragon Age: Origins, a highly praised fantasy role-playing game.

In January 2010, BioWare released Mass Effect 2, the sequel to Mass Effect, which received critical acclaim and many awards. The company announced plans to open a customer service office in Galway, Ireland, in 2011. Between 2011 and 2012, BioWare completed three major games: Star Wars: The Old Republic, a MMORPG based on BioWare’s previous Star Wars work; Dragon Age II, a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins; and Mass Effect 3.

After Mass Effect 3 was released in March 2012, many players criticized its endings for not meeting expectations set earlier in the series.

Technology

Between 1998 and 2011, BioWare created several video game engines to support the development of their games. Some of these engines were shared with other companies to help them make their own games. Others included tools that allowed fans to create their own adventures using BioWare's technology.

BioWare designed the Infinity Engine to build the Baldur's Gate series (1998–2001), which were 2D role-playing games based on Dungeons & Dragons. The same engine was used by Black Isle Studios to make Planescape: Torment (1999) and the Icewind Dale series (2000–2002). In 2012, Beamdog obtained a license from BioWare and created an updated version of the Infinity Engine, called the "Infinity Enhanced Engine."

The Aurora Engine replaced the Infinity Engine. It supported 3D environments, real-time lighting and shadows, and surround sound. BioWare used the Aurora Engine to develop Neverwinter Nights (2002) and its expansions. The game included the Aurora toolset, which let players create their own adventure modules for single-player or online multiplayer. Over 1,000 fan-made modules were created using the toolset within six months of its release. Obsidian Entertainment, which succeeded Black Isle Studios, used an updated version of the Aurora Engine, called the "Electron Engine," to make Neverwinter Nights 2 (2006) and its expansions. CD Projekt Red used the Aurora Engine to create The Witcher (2007), though they rewrote the engine's rendering module.

BioWare updated the Aurora Engine to create the Odyssey Engine, which powered Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003) and Jade Empire (2005). The Odyssey Engine was the first BioWare engine used for video game consoles, with both games originally released for the Xbox before being adapted for PC. Obsidian Entertainment used the Odyssey Engine to develop Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (2004). BioWare provided limited oversight during the development of The Sith Lords and Neverwinter Nights 2.

The Eclipse Engine replaced the Odyssey Engine and included support for PhysX hardware acceleration. It was used to create Dragon Age: Origins (2009) and its expansion, Awakening (2010). Origins was released with a toolset that allowed players to run their own adventure modules on the Eclipse Engine. An upgraded version of the Eclipse Engine, called the Lycium Engine, was used to make Dragon Age II (2011).

In September 2004, BioWare obtained a license to use Unreal Engine 3 from Epic Games. This engine was used to develop the original Mass Effect trilogy (2007–2012) and the remastered Mass Effect: Legendary Edition (2021).

In 2013, Electronic Arts confirmed that all future BioWare games would use DICE's Frostbite engine. Starting with Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Anthem, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, all BioWare games were developed using Frostbite 3 as part of a broader effort to unify technology across Electronic Arts' studios.

Subsidiaries

• BioWare Austin in Austin, Texas: Started in March 2006 to create Star Wars: The Old Republic with help from BioWare Edmonton. Later, the studio worked on a new game called Shadow Realms, but production was put on hold in February 2015 to focus on Dragon Age: Inquisition and The Old Republic. On June 27, 2023, BioWare announced that the Austin branch handed over The Old Republic to Broadsword Online Games so the team could work on the next Dragon Age and Mass Effect games with the Edmonton studio.

• BioWare Montreal in Montreal, Quebec: Founded in March 2009 to support the Edmonton studio when needed. The team led the creation of additional content for the Mass Effect series and developed Mass Effect: Andromeda. In August 2017, BioWare Montreal was merged with EA's Motive Studio.

• BioWare San Francisco in San Francisco, California: Originally named EA2D, the studio created Mirror's Edge 2D and Dragon Age: Legends. It became part of BioWare but closed in February 2013.

• BioWare Mythic in Fairfax, Virginia: Known as Mythic Entertainment until June 2009, the name was changed again to Mythic Entertainment in November 2012. The studio closed completely in 2014.

• Victory Games in Los Angeles, California: Founded in February 2011 as BioWare Victory to develop Command & Conquer in 2013. The studio stopped using the BioWare name in November 2012 but remained part of the BioWare group. It shut down in October 2013.

• Waystone Games in Los Angeles, California: The studio created Dawngate, but the project was canceled in November 2014.

• BioWare Sacramento in Sacramento, California: Started as KlickNation in 2008. The company was bought and renamed BioWare Sacramento in 2011. In 2014, it was renamed EA Capital Games.

Awards and recognition

The complete list of awards is available on its website.

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

In addition to many game awards, in October 2008, the company was recognized as one of Alberta's Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., as reported by the Calgary Herald and the Edmonton Journal.

BioWare's co-founders, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, were named 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."