Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka, two of the original co-founders of BioWare, have been named members of the Order of Canada, an honor reserved for those deemed to have enriched the lives of others and made a difference to Canada through their actions and achievements.
The duo is among 103 Canadians receiving the honor this year, alongside an author, playwright, Olympian, and broadcaster, among others.
Zeschuk and Muzyka, alongside several others, founded BioWare in Edmonton, Alberta in 1995 following their graduation from medical school. In an interview with CBC, the pair say that BioWare’s early roots in Alberta helped the current industry establish its roots in the region.
“We did it here in Edmonton,” Zeschuk told CBC. “We didn’t start it and go off somewhere else.”
The pair left BioWare and retired from the game industry as a whole in 2012, but remained in Canada and continue to work toward bettering their communities.
“It’s not just what we did at BioWare, it’s what we continue to do to try to make everything around us better,” Zeschuk told CBC. “I think that’s a key part of it, how we do it and how our philosophy around making a business and building businesses and working with people, building people up.”