'No other studio in the world did it better' than BioWare at its peak, says former Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider

My main feeling regarding the BioWare closure is one of sadness—more than I expected to feel after having been away from the company for almost 10 years now, actually. At its height, no other studio in the world did it better, and its influence on the gaming world is undeniable. Honestly, it felt more like an institution than just another company, so to see it shuttered so unceremoniously... it hit hard, despite being predictable (considering the current climate in the industry).

My fondest memory will always be right after the release of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn in September of 2000. We'd scrambled to put out the game, cut so much out of it just to make it work and, even then, knew there were still so many bugs we couldn't get to. So we were nervous, worried that the fans would see all those cuts and hate it.

The very next day, everyone was running between the offices reading out loud the forum posts from fans who were simply over the moon at what they were finding. We read out the glowing reviews, the love that was being given to the narrative team, and the declarations that this game put BioWare on the map. Let's just say there were a lot of tears. It was my first job in the industry and my first game release, and I had no idea what to expect. I think I knew that day, bathing in the collective relief and the giddiness of all that fan love, that I would indeed be doing this for the rest of my life.