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In thinking about the loss of BioWare, which is truly one of the greatest and most important game development studios ever to exist, it occurred to me that a lot of folks might not understand WHY their loss is so upsetting to so many of us. So here's a quick primer on the studio. (A thread.)

BioWare's first game in 1996 was a really mediocre mech cockpit game called Shattered Steel that was more of a tech demo for a deformable terrain 3D engine than a full-on mech game. Nobody had any idea what this studio would do a couple of years later with its first big hit.

That hit was of course Baldur's Gate, which completely redefined the CRPG genre and established three things the developer would become known for: 1) Deep, detailed world-building with lots of sidequests and conditional events 2) Strong interactions with memorable characters 3) A multiplayer mode

If there was any question Baldur's Gate was a fluke, BioWare cemented its status with Baldur's Gate II, which was not only a superior game but one that also rewarded players who carried over their characters (a common feature in CRPGs) with a deeper, more personal story. It's still fantastic today!

The promise of bringing D&D's 3rd edition ruleset into a full 3D game engine seemed unbelievable when BioWare launched Neverwinter Nights in 2002, but even more amazing was that the game was built for players to create their own campaigns, not just play the (excellent) pre-made ones.

But BioWare's take on Star Wars, the incredible Knights of the Old Republic, was their next big moment. Originally released as an Xbox exclusive, the game showed that no matter how bad the prequels were, Star Wars still had it. The storyline & era are some of the most beloved in Star Wars fandoms.

One of the things that made KOTOR so interesting was its light side and dark side reputation system. While the D&D games had also employed reputation to some degree, in KOTOR, the effects impacted the look and progression of your character as well as the story ending. Plus, Revan was awesome!