Anyone who is into role-playing video games is familiar with BioWare. BioWare is an electronic entertainment company which is famous for specializing in role-playing games for console, personal computers and online RPGs. This company was founded by Dr. Ray Muzyka, Dr. Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip in February 1, 1995. Founders Muzyka and Zeshuk both earned medical degrees at the University of Alberta. Its other founder, Augustine Yip, left the company in 1997 to return to pursuing his medical degree. Muzyka and Zeshuk, however, remained and served as company heads of the BioWare studio.
BioWare is based in Edmonton, Alberta in Canada. It went into partnership in November 3, 2005 with Pandemic Studios but both companies retained their individual brands and staffs despite having similar game developing function. Later on, both BioWare/Pandemic Studios were acquired by the Electronic Arts giant in 2007. BioWare still retained its branding and became another development group under EA. Currently, BioWare have other studios located in Austin (Texas), Fairfax (Virginia), Montreal (Quebec) and Galway (Ireland).
BioWare is best known for its role-playing games. Two of its earliest RPGs were Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights. Both Dungeons and Dragons-inspired games came out as bestsellers. Baldur’s Gate was released on September 2000 for PC and was a hack and slash turn-based RPG. Neverwinter Nights was released in July 2002 for Linux, Mac and PC. It was a third-person perspective RPG which can be played online with up to 64 friends.
In partnership with Lucas Arts, BioWare developed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR) role-playing game. It was released on 2003 and became a commercial success. The alignment system of the game which allowed players to choose between the light- and dark-side paths was highly entertaining.
Mass Effect, an action RPG developed by BioWare went into release in 2007. Players assumed the role of Commander Sheppard of the SS Normandy as he took his elite recon squad across the troubled galaxy. This game received numerous “Best RPG” awards from Game Critics Awards, Spike TV Awards and GameTrailers to name a few. Moreover, it was recognized “Game of the Year” by The New York Times. Its sequel, Mass Effect 2, was released in 2010. It also received tons of nominations and awards, including Best Game of 2010 from BAFTA. A third installment is set to be released in March 2012.
Another Game of the Year recipient is BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins which was released in 2009. Players assumed the role of a Grey Warden, the legendary order of the guardians, set in the fictional kingdom of Ferelden. The game received overwhelming positive reviews, earned lots of awards and was a critical success. An expansion entitled Dragon Age: Origins- Awakening was released in March 2010 which added a brand-new campaign and players have the option to import characters from the main game. The official sequel, Dragon Age II, was recently released in March 2011 and players assumed the role of Hawke which can be developed as a human mage, warrior or rogue. The setting was placed in Kirkwall, a neighboring state of Ferelden. The development of Dragon Age III was announced in May 2011.
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