Login
You're viewing the mastodonapp.uk public feed.
  • Per Vognsenpervognsen@mastodon.social
    Oct 22, 2026, 1:59 AM

    RIP BioWare. The last time I was madly in love with a BioWare game was Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2, but they made many of my favorite CRPGs like Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and while Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 1 and 2 never quite reached that same apex for me personally, they were still the best CRPGs of their era. I didn't know anyone who was still left at BioWare, but it's sad to see the death of a company with that kind of legacy.

    💬 3🔄 6⭐ 27

Replies

  • Per Vognsenpervognsen@mastodon.social
    Oct 22, 2026, 2:20 AM

    As a technology provider, they had a hand in many other legendary RPGs. Black Isle's Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale 1 and 2 used BioWare's Infinity Engine. CD Projekt Red's The Witcher used BioWare's Aurora Engine. And Neverwinter Nights was designed more as a toolset than as a game; it was one of the most successful RPG toolsets for fan-made content, everything from mods to feature-length games and persistent online worlds.

    💬 2🔄 2⭐ 10
  • Per Vognsenpervognsen@mastodon.social
    Oct 22, 2026, 2:27 AM

    In short, when you take into account their first-order and second-order impact, you can make a strong case they were the most important CRPG developer in our industry's history. I can think of a few other credible candidates, but my personal vote goes to BioWare.

    💬 1🔄 1⭐ 10
  • synlogic4242synlogic4242@vivaldi.net
    Oct 22, 2026, 3:19 AM

    @pervognsen I cannot disagree with you, when the claim is limited to CRPGs. I think if we broaden the scope of the impact, and go up a level, Carmack's engines and Id Software in its prime had a larger downstream impact. We dont get BioWare without first getting Carmack/Id/Doom/Quake. though yes their emphasis more on FPS shooters than CRPGs large parts of the common stack hugely inherit from that Wolf3D --> Doom --> Quake --> Valve Half-Life evolution

    💬 0🔄 0⭐ 0
  • Maciej Sinilomsinilo@mastodon.gamedev.place
    Oct 22, 2026, 2:27 AM

    @pervognsen they also pretty much let us use Aurora for peanuts (I dont remember the numbers anymore, but it was some tiny fraction of what UE was at the time), it was more of an unofficial 'friends & family' tech

    💬 1🔄 0⭐ 3
  • Per Vognsenpervognsen@mastodon.social
    Oct 22, 2026, 6:11 AM

    @msinilo Yeah, I'm surprised more people didn't take advantage of that opportunity. It feels like no-one else asked!

    💬 0🔄 0⭐ 0
  • 💬 1🔄 0⭐ 1
  • Michael Eggers 🇺🇦🇪🇺pythno@mastodon.gamedev.place
    Oct 22, 2026, 7:38 AM

    @floooh @pervognsen I spent many, many hours in BG2. I loved it. However, after summer break was over I didn't play anymore. And when I tried to get back into it I didn't know what was going on anymore. So I never finished it :( Is it still easily playable on modern systems?

    💬 1🔄 0⭐ 0
  • 💬 1🔄 0⭐ 0
  • 💬 1🔄 0⭐ 0
  • 💬 0🔄 0⭐ 0
  • Jean-Sébastien Guayskylark13@mastodon.gamedev.place
    Oct 22, 2026, 11:46 AM

    @pervognsen I'm so sad at their closing. Back when I was figuring out what to do with my life after school, the fact they were making great games and were not in the US (back then they only had the studio in Alberta) was eye opening to me.

    And yeah, I understand their games were less successful or genre defining lately. But a studio is not the projects, it's the people. The project you get often reflects the management and constraints. I still feel there was huge potential that was destroyed.

    💬 0🔄 0⭐ 0