The doctors leave Bioware

The Bioware doctors, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk are indeed leaving Bioware after months of speculation. In fact, they both gave EA six month notice in April that they would be departing.

Both doctors have written personal letters to fans detailing their reasons to depart and what they will be up to next. Greg Zeschuk will dive head first into beer: "After my departure I'm going to be spending significant time with family and friends, as well as pursuing some personal passion-driven projects related to craft beer. The main project I will be working on is a web-based interview show called The Beer Diaries where I interview notable brewers and showcase their beers. If things go well, I'll work on other beer-related shows, apps and projects."

Ray Muzyka also desires something completely different after 20 years with Bioware: "I believe strongly in the power of free enterprise to enable sustainable change, so my next ‘chapter' will likely focus on an entirely new industry, something exciting, different and frankly downright scary - investing in and mentoring new entrepreneurs, and more specifically, the field of social/impact investing."

Founding Bioware back in 1995, Zeschuk and Muzyka have seen an incredible stream of high quality products - Baldur's Gate, Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect, Dragon Age) - but Bioware is a very different entity now than when they started it.

With six studios from the original one in Edmonton, to the Old Republic's studio in Austin, one in Montreal, San Francisco, Ireland, and Bioware Mythic (Virginia), the Bioware identity could be said to have been diluted as of late.

Interestingly enough October marks the five year anniversary of EA's purchase of Bioware - and it's not uncommon practice to tie down key individuals to such contracts as part of a buy out (in fact, it's more the rule in these cases). After this you typically see a period of quarantine where the individuals are not allowed to work in the industry (6 or 12 months is not unusual). So perhaps the talk of beer and philanthropy reflects this, or perhaps the Doctors are forever lost from the video games industry. That would be shame, so let's hope for their triumphant return some day.