BioWare Co-Founder Greg Zeschuk Gets Back Into Games

Following his retirement from BioWare in 2012, co-founder Dr. Greg Zeschuk launched a web series about beer called The Beer Diaries. Now, Zeschuk is getting back into games. The nature of his return to gaming, however, is probably not what you would have expected.

As reported by GamesIndustry International, Zeschuk has joined Vancouver-based Biba Ventures, a startup that's making mobile augmented reality apps that work with playground equipment. Stay with us...

On Wednesday, Biba announced a deal with playground equipment company PlayPower to build a series of Biba-supported playgrounds. Zeschuk will serve as chairman for Biba.

"Biba's mobile games designed for outdoor play are just a breath of fresh air," Zeschuk said. "PlayPower and Biba are creating a new category, an inventive way to blend our new media habits with the health benefits and joy of active outdoor play. I am inspired by the category as a game designer and father."

GamesIndustry International reports that, although the Biba-developed games are designed for children, the apps themselves are intended for parents to use by way of "refereed play."

"The first games will see playgrounds reimagined as wrecked robot spaceships for kids ages 3-9 to explore with the help of a virtual sidekick," the site says. "Kids will be tasked with physical challenges that they can complete for scores and badges that can be compared online. Some games will also work with existing playgrounds that weren't designed with Biba in mind, as players can specify which types of equipment they have access to at any given location."

That sounds really interesting, to me at least. It's quite a change from Zeschuk's other post-BioWare project: The Beer Diaries. Zeschuk will talk more about his new playground gaming venture during the Game Developers Conference next month in San Francisco.

As for BioWare's other co-founder, Dr. Ray Muzyka, he has since founded a humanitarian "impact investment" company called Threshold Impact.