BioWare Corp.
Type	Private
Founded	Edmonton, Alberta (1995)
Headquarters	Edmonton, Alberta & Austin, Texas
Key people	Ray Muzyka, CEO Greg Zeschuk, President
Industry	Software & Programming
Products	Infinity Engine Aurora engine Odyssey engine Shattered Steel Baldur's Gate series MDK2 Neverwinter Nights series Star Wars: KotOR Jade Empire (See complete products listing.)
Revenue	Private (in 2003 was $17.482 million CAD)
Employees	~300 (2006)
Website	www.bioware.com

BioWare Corp. is a Canadian electronic entertainment company founded in February 1995 by medical doctors Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk. It is based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. BioWare specializes in creating computer and console video games and has become famous for highly praised and successful computer role-playing games such as Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights, which won multiple awards. Recently they also made two successful console role-playing games, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire. Image File history File links Logo - BioWare Corp File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A private company is a company that is independently owned. ... Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta, situated in the north central region of the province, an area with some of the most fertile farm land on the prairies. ... Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta, situated in the north central region of the province, an area with some of the most fertile farm land on the prairies. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: , Country United States State Texas Counties Travis County Government  - Mayor Will Wynn Area  - City  296. ... Dr. Ray Muzyka is the Chairman/CEO and Co-Executive Producer at BioWare Corp. ... A Chief Executive Officer (CEO), or Chief Executive, is the highest-ranking corporate officer, administrator, corporate administrator, executive, or executive officer, in charge of total management of a corporation, company, organization or agency. ... Dr. Greg Zeschuk is the Joint CEO and Co-Executive Producer at BioWare Corp. ... Most of this article is about heads of state. ... Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ... The Infinity Engine is a computer game engine, which allows the creation of isometric computer role-playing games. ... The Aurora Engine is a game engine developed by BioWare for use in computer and console role-playing games. ... The Odyssey Engine is a computer game engine developed by BioWare and has exclusively been used to create three dimensional computer role-playing games. ... Shattered Steel is an action game released in 1996 by BioWare for MS-DOS, and later ported to Mac OS by now-defunct Logicware. ... Title screen of Baldurs Gate, the first game in the series. ... MDK2 is a video game and sequel to the third-person shooter, MDK. The original MDK was developed by Shiny Entertainment and released in 1997 by Interplay. ... This article is about the 2002 computer role-playing game. ... Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR) is an RPG video game originally for the Microsoft Xbox and later for PCs running Microsoft Windows. ... Jade Empire is an action RPG developed by Canadian developer BioWare. ... Revenue is a U.S. business term for the amount of money that a company earns from its activities in a given period, mostly from sales of products and/or services to customers. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Loonie. ... For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... A website (alternatively, Web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos and other digital assets that is hosted on a Web server, usually accessible via the Internet or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML, that is almost always accessible via HTTP, a... Dr. Ray Muzyka is the Chairman/CEO and Co-Executive Producer at BioWare Corp. ... Dr. Greg Zeschuk is the Joint CEO and Co-Executive Producer at BioWare Corp. ... Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta, situated in the north central region of the province, an area with some of the most fertile farm land on the prairies. ... Namcos Pac-Man was a hit, and became a universal phenomenon. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Baldurs Gate is a computer role-playing game in a high fantasy setting, developed by BioWare and released in 1998 by Interplay Entertainment. ... This article is about the 2002 computer role-playing game. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR) is an RPG video game originally for the Microsoft Xbox and later for PCs running Microsoft Windows. ... Jade Empire is an action RPG developed by Canadian developer BioWare. ...

Muzyka and Zeschuk are currently the studio heads of BioWare, with Muzyka the Chief Executive Officer and Zeschuk the President of BioWare; Yip left in early 1997 to return to medicine. A Chief Executive Officer (CEO), or Chief Executive, is the highest-ranking corporate officer, administrator, corporate administrator, executive, or executive officer, in charge of total management of a corporation, company, organization or agency. ... Most of this article is about heads of state. ...

In November 2005, it was announced that BioWare and Pandemic Studios (itself founded by former Activision employees) would be joining forces, with private equity fund Elevation Partners investing in the partnership. However, both companies will retain their brands and identities. Pandemic Studios is a video game developer notable for creating destructable environments that is based in Los Angeles, California and Brisbane, Australia. ... Activision, Inc. ... Elevation Partners is a private equity firm which invests in intellectual property and media and entertainment companies. ...

On March 13, 2006, BioWare announced that they opened a new studio in Austin, Texas headed by industry veterans Gordon Walton and Richard Vogel, which is already working on developing an MMORPG. is the 72nd day of the year (73rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Nickname: Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: , Country United States State Texas Counties Travis County Government  - Mayor Will Wynn Area  - City  296. ... Gordon Walton at Kesmai in 1998 Gordon Walton, Jr. ... An image from World of Warcraft, one of the largest commercial MMORPGs as of 2004, based on active subscriptions. ...

BioWare has announced that it is also developing an untitled Sonic RPG for the Nintendo DS and plans to release it sometime in 2008.^[1] Sonic RPG is a currently untitled Nintendo DS RPG based on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. ... “NDS” redirects here. ...

Games

• Shattered Steel (1996)
• Baldur's Gate (1998)
  • Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast (1999)
• MDK2 (2000)
• Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000)
  • Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (2001)
• Neverwinter Nights (2002)
  • Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide (2003)
  • Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark (2003)
  • Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker (2005)
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic ("KotOR") (2003)
• Jade Empire (2005)
• Dragon Age (in development)
• Mass Effect (in development)
• Untitled Sonic RPG (2008)^[2]
• Untitled MMORPG using the HeroEngine^[3]
• Untitled Next Gen ^[4]

Shattered Steel is an action game released in 1996 by BioWare for MS-DOS, and later ported to Mac OS by now-defunct Logicware. ... Baldurs Gate is a computer role-playing game in a high fantasy setting, developed by BioWare and released in 1998 by Interplay Entertainment. ... MDK2 is a video game and sequel to the third-person shooter, MDK. The original MDK was developed by Shiny Entertainment and released in 1997 by Interplay. ... This article is about the 2002 computer role-playing game. ... Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR) is an RPG video game originally for the Microsoft Xbox and later for PCs running Microsoft Windows. ... Jade Empire is an action RPG developed by Canadian developer BioWare. ... Dragon Age is an computer role-playing game (RPG) currently in development for the PC. It is being developed by BioWare, a well-known company responsible for games such as the Baldurs Gate series and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. ... This article concerns a video game for the Xbox 360; for the term in medicine, see mass effect. ... Sonic RPG is a currently untitled Nintendo DS RPG based on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. ... HeroEngine is a 3D game engine and server technology platform developed by Simutronics Corporation specifically for building MMO-style games. ...

Third party games using BioWare engines

• Planescape: Torment (1999)
• Icewind Dale (2000)
  • Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter (2001)
  • Icewind Dale: Trials of the Luremaster (2001)
• Icewind Dale II (2002)
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (2004)
• Neverwinter Nights 2 (2006)
• The Witcher (in development)

Planescape: Torment is a computer role-playing game (CRPG) that takes place in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Planescape setting. ... Icewind Dale is a computer role-playing game (CRPG) developed by Black Isle Studios. ... Icewind Dale is the arctic region of the fictional world of the Forgotten Realms, along the northernmost part of the Sword Coast. ... Example of a character screen. ... Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (KOTOR II) is an RPG video game for the PC and the Microsoft Xbox. ... Neverwinter Nights 2 (NWN2) is a computer role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Atari. ... The Witcher is a computer role-playing game in development for the PC by CD Projekt. ...

Engines

BioWare created the Infinity Engine, which was used as a core component for development of 2D computer role-playing games based on Dungeons & Dragons, such as Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale. For their game Neverwinter Nights, launched in 2002, BioWare developed the Aurora Engine, the basis for a number of successful computer and console 3D RPGs thereafter. The Infinity Engine is a computer game engine, which allows the creation of isometric computer role-playing games. ... 2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models (such as 2D geometric models, text, and digital images) and by techniques specific to them. ... This article is about games in which one plays the role of a character. ... Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) currently published by Wizards of the Coast. ... Title screen of Baldurs Gate, the first game in the series. ... Icewind Dale is a computer role-playing game (CRPG) series developed by Black Isle Studios. ... This article is about the 2002 computer role-playing game. ... The Aurora Engine is a game engine developed by BioWare for use in computer and console role-playing games. ...

Neverwinter Nights shipped with a number of tools allowing users to create their own role-playing adventures for single and multiplayer online. The tools, using the Aurora Engine, have been adapted to many forms of gameplay and storytelling, with thousands of amateur and professional modules available on various web sites; some released for sale as premium content. Neverwinter Nights was a pioneering example of user-created game content commercially supported and distributed over the internet.

The Odyssey Engine was developed for the Xbox game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which was based on the Aurora Engine. BioWare is currently developing the Eclipse Engine for the game Dragon Age. The Odyssey Engine is a computer game engine developed by BioWare and has exclusively been used to create three dimensional computer role-playing games. ... The Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console produced by Microsoft Corporation. ... Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR) is an RPG video game originally for the Microsoft Xbox and later for PCs running Microsoft Windows. ... // The Eclipse game engine creates online 2 dimensional games using 8 bit, 16 bit, or 32 bit tiles. ...

After years of working with licensed content, particularly from the D&D world, BioWare began efforts to develop intellectual property that they would own. Jade Empire was a step in this direction, as are their current projects: the PC RPG Dragon Age and Mass Effect for Xbox 360, using the third version of the Unreal Engine. For the 2006 film, see Intellectual Property (film). ... Jade Empire is an action RPG developed by Canadian developer BioWare. ... Microsoft Windows is the name of several families of proprietary software operating systems by Microsoft. ... Dragon Age is an computer role-playing game (RPG) currently in development for the PC. It is being developed by BioWare, a well-known company responsible for games such as the Baldurs Gate series and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. ... This article concerns a video game for the Xbox 360; for the term in medicine, see mass effect. ... The Xbox 360 is the successor to Microsofts Xbox video game console, developed in cooperation with IBM, ATI, Samsung and SiS. Information on the console first came through viral marketing campaigns and it was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detailed launch and game information divulged... The Unreal Engine is a widely used game engine for action games. ...

BioWare maintained a limited oversight on Obsidian Entertainment's development of Neverwinter Nights 2 and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Obsidian Entertainment, founded and located in Santa Ana, California since 2003 after the disestablishment of Interplay Productions Black Isle Studios, is an entertainment software developer for PC and console systems. ... Neverwinter Nights 2 (NWN2) is a computer role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Atari. ... Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (KOTOR II) is an RPG video game for the PC and the Microsoft Xbox. ...

Awards

In addition to numerous game awards, the company has been been awarded with a number of business related awards:

• Canada's Top 100 Employers 2004^[5], 2005^[6], 2006^[7] as featured in Maclean's magazine
• Alberta's Top 100 Employers 2005^[8] as featured in the Calgary Herald^[9] and Edmonton Journal^[10]
• Profit 100 - Canada's Fastest Growing Companies 2005 (Rank 81)

The full list of awards can be found on their web site [1]. Canadas Top 100 Employers is an annual competition that recognizes the best places in Canada to work. ... A cover of the Canadian magazine Macleans. ... The Calgary Herald is a daily Calgary, Alberta newspaper. ... The Edmonton Journal is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. ...

References

1. ^ http://ds.vggen.com/news/news.php?id=5475
2. ^ Sega Announces BioWare Will Create Sonic Role Playing Game For (2007-06-21).
3. ^ http://www.bioware.com/bioware_info/press_releases/2006_03_15_Austin
4. ^ http://www.actiontrip.com/previews/360/masseffect_i_2.phtml
5. ^ http://www.bioware.com/bioware_info/press_releases/top100emp/
6. ^ http://www.bioware.com/bioware_info/press_releases/2004_10_06_TechLeader
7. ^ http://www.bioware.com/bioware_info/press_releases/2004_10_06_TechLeader
8. ^ http://working.canada.com/edmonton/topemployers/story.html?s_id=DWm7UyICfIuIwz5wIPjM%2f3TfljxSZ8SHghn8fUWXAo8tswHkdtzz%2fg%3d%3d&page=2
9. ^ http://working.canada.com/calgary/resources/topemployers/index.html
10. ^ http://working.canada.com/edmonton/resources/topemployers/index.html

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• BioWare Corp. (Official Website)
• BioWare|Pandemic (Merger Website)
• BioWare in Russia