Greg Zeschuk, co-founder of BioWare, has broken his long silence on the games industry to offer a critical perspective on its leadership following the recent closure of his former studio by Electronic Arts. Zeschuk, who has spent the last 15 years running Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company, expressed sadness over BioWare's demise but stated his primary concern is for the employees now facing job searches.
"Anyone getting put into the job hunt is a sort of terrifying endeavor and super sad," Zeschuk commented in a rare interview. He recalled receiving news of the closure while on a fishing trip, allowing him a period to process the information away from the immediate reaction.
Zeschuk defended his past decision to sell BioWare to EA, describing the acquisition as providing "stability" and the benefit of being "part of something bigger." However, he noted a prescient feeling that the studio's fate might be precarious after EA's acquisition by Saudi Arabia's PIF, suggesting BioWare's complex, long-development games did not align with the parent company's preferred model of easily replicable sports titles.
He also voiced strong skepticism regarding the industry's current trends of mergers and AI-driven cutbacks, particularly the notion that complex games can be recreated by "random people and AI." Zeschuk asserted that many current executives lack fundamental understanding of game creation.
"The other harsh reality of almost all these companies, the people that go down the business track never really come from the development track," Zeschuk stated. "Because none of these people have ever made a game, like, never really sat and made one, like, from start to finish, even a small thing, they just don't know how it works."
Despite his insights and strong opinions on game development, Zeschuk has no intention of returning to the industry. He expressed contentment with being a consumer and playing games, emphasizing that the personal struggle and effort required to create a great game are no longer appealing to him after his experiences.
"For me it was time to go, and I kind of walked out of the games business without any intention of ever returning," he said. "Having gone through the crucible of game development, I'm not going back in there."