Later that month, EA restructured and downsized BioWare. While a small Mass Effect team was retained to continue work, the studio "is now down from more than 200 people two years ago to less than 100 today". This restructuring included layoffs in the Dragon Age team, Bloomberg stated that some BioWare employees were "loaned out to other teams within their parent company" and then later informed "that the loans had morphed into permanent relocations" to various EA subsidiaries.
The was the successor to the Infinity Engine, featuring full 3D environments, real-time lighting and shadows, and surround sound. BioWare used the Aurora Engine to produce its 2002 Neverwinter Nights, as well as two expansion packs. The game included the Aurora toolset, a collection of tools allowing users to create their own digital adventure modules to be played either in single-player or in online multiplayer. The toolset enjoyed great popularity among the modding community, with over a thousand fan-made modules produced in it within half a year after the release. Obsidian Entertainment (successor to Black Isle Studios) used an updated version of BioWare's Aurora, titled "Electron Engine", to produce Neverwinter Nights 2 (2006) and its three expansion packs (2007–2009). Like the original, the Electron toolset was released with the game. The Polish studio CD Projekt Red used the Aurora Engine to develop The Witcher, the 2007 video game adaptation of the Polish fantasy novel series, although the rendering module was rewritten from scratch.
BioWare used an updated version of the Aurora, titled the , to produce Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic in 2003 and its first original intellectual property role-playing game Jade Empire in 2005. The Odyssey Engine was the first BioWare engine to allow developing for video game consoles, with both Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire originally released for the Xbox before being ported to the PC platform. Obsidian Entertainment used the Odyssey Engine to develop Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (2004), a sequel to the original Knights of the Old Republic. BioWare maintained limited oversight on Obsidian's development of The Sith Lords, as well as Neverwinter Nights 2.
The succeeded the Odyssey Engine and, among other things, supported PhysX hardware acceleration. It was used to produce Dragon Age: Origins (2009) and its expansion pack Awakening (2010). Like Neverwinter Nights, Origins was released with a toolset to allow the players to run their own adventure modules on the Eclipse Engine. An upgraded version of the Eclipse Engine, internally known as the Lycium Engine, was used to produce Dragon Age II (2011).
In September 2004, BioWare acquired a license to use Unreal Engine 3 from developer Epic Games. Unreal Engine 3 would ultimately be used to develop the original Mass Effect trilogy (2007–2012), as well as the remastered Mass Effect: Legendary Edition in 2021.
In 2013, EA confirmed that all future games developed by BioWare would be made on DICE's Frostbite engine. All of BioWare's games since the confirmation (Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Anthem, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard) were developed using Frostbite 3 as part of the general move towards a unified technology foundation across all of Electronic Arts' development studios.
Subsidiaries
- BioWare Austin in Austin, Texas; formed in March 2006 specifically to develop Star Wars: The Old Republic (with assistance from BioWare Edmonton), BioWare Austin later began working on a new IP called Shadow Realms, but production was shelved in February 2015 in order to focus on the continuing production of Dragon Age: Inquisition and The Old Republic. On 27 June 2023, BioWare announced that its Austin branch handed SWTOR off to Broadsword Online Games to work on the next Dragon Age and Mass Effect installments with the Edmonton studio.
Former
- BioWare Montreal in Montreal, Quebec; formed in March 2009 to assist the Edmonton studio where necessary. BioWare Montreal was merged with EA's Motive Studio in August 2017.
- BioWare San Francisco in San Francisco, California; founded as EA2D and developed Mirror's Edge 2D and Dragon Age: Legends, became part of BioWare, but was closed in February 2013.
- BioWare Mythic in Fairfax, Virginia; formerly known as Mythic Entertainment, until June 2009, re-renamed to Mythic Entertainment in November 2012 and closed completely in 2014.
- Victory Games in Los Angeles, California; founded in February 2011 as BioWare Victory to develop the 2013 Command & Conquer, it had since dropped the BioWare label in November 2012
- Waystone Games in Los Angeles, California; the developer of Dawngate, which was cancelled in November 2014.
- BioWare Sacramento in Sacramento, California; founded as KlickNation 2008, acquired and renamed BioWare Sacramento in 2011, and renamed EA Capital Games in 2014.
Games developed
Awards and recognition
The full list of awards can be found on its web site.
- Spike TV's 2010 Video Game Awards: Studio of the Year (2010)
- Hall of Fame induction (2010)
In addition to numerous game awards, in October 2008, the company was named one of Alberta's Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which was announced by the Calgary Herald and the Edmonton Journal.
BioWare's co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk were named as members of the Order of Canada in December 2018 "for [their] revolutionary contributions to the video game industry as a developer and co-founder of an internationally renowned studio."