BioWare Edmonton Founders Awarded With High Honors For Their "Revolutionary" Impact on Video Games

Whether you traversed the land of Thedas covered in demons and blood mages with the Dragon Age [...]

By Liana 'LiLi' Ruppert

Whether you traversed the land of Thedas covered in demons and blood mages with the Dragon Age franchise, or saved the galaxy as Commander Shepard in Mass Effect, BioWare's many tales have impacted the lives of gamers in a big way. Baldur's Gate was just the start of the studio's greatness through the years and now two of the co-founders that started up the Edmonton branch have been awarded a truly worthy honor for their dedication and "revolutionary" impact on the gaming-verse.

23 years later, both Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka have been gifted the Order of Canada award. The prestige comes just 6 months after the pair left the studio to pursue other ventures, but the honor is one deeply felt - especially after so long making these incredible adventures.

According to award's description, the pair is being honored for their "revolutionary contributions to the videogame industry as a developer and co-founder of an internationally renowned studio." Her Excellency the Right Honorable Julie Payette named both Zeschuk and Muzyka members of the Order of Canada, which is "the cornerstone of the Canadian honors system."

Zeschuk recently spoke with CBC News about the award, calling it "very shocking." He added, "We just try to do great stuff and try and help people and try and work with great people and build things, and to be recognized for that is really an amazing honour."

Of course, just like anything - this studio's past successes were a team effort - something Muzyka was quick to point out. "That's always been something I think both of us have felt—surround ourselves with people who are smarter than us and passionate and bright, just sparks that you can learn from and grow with," he continued. "We always tried to treat everybody we worked with with great respect."

Though the two developers are no longer with BioWare, they are still residing in Edmonton with Zeschuk now running a brewpub and Muzyka leading an investment company by the name of Threshold Impact.

As a huge lover of this studio (and over 28 playthroughs of the Mass Effect trilogy), I'm absolutely thrilled to see this duo honored in such a way. Congratulations!

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