Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, the co-founders of Bioware, have announced their retirement from the video games industry today, in this post on Bioware’s official blog.  Muzyka and Zeschuk created Bioware in February of 1995, and have gone on to create some of gaming’s most loved and revered franchises.  Both have credited their leave from a desire to move on and work on something brand new.  This comes off the heels of Bioware announcing Dragon Age III: Inquisition, the much anticipated sequel in the Dragon Age franchise.

Two of the most influential dudes in the industry.

It’s no secret that Bioware was been under more scrutiny in the past couple of months than ever before.  It’s hard not to correlate these recent tumultuous times with the co-founders’ seemingly abrupt departure.  Bioware’s recent releases, starting with Dragon Age II, have been under fire both financially and publicly.  Dragon Age II severely disappointed fans of the first game with its repetitive dungeons, and was not well-received by critics and fans alike, especially compared to the first game.  Star Wars: The Old Republic did not sell like Bioware wanted, and as a result became free to play recently.  Mass Effect 3 obviously irked many fans with its controversial ending, and was under the public eye heavily months after its release.

Regardless of these recent hiccups, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk have been the driving force behind many influential games in the past, and it’s going to be sad to see these two guys leave the video game industry.