BioWare founders getting Lifetime Achievement Award

BioWare founders Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award next month during the Game Developers Conference Awards, organizers announced today.

Zeschuk and Muzyka--known as the "BioWare Doctors"--left BioWare in September. Zeschuk said he lost passion for making games and is now working on a craft beer Internet show. Muzyka is now involved with social impact endeavors, like charities for education, health care, and animal rights.

Previous winners include Deus Ex designer Warren Spector, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, Metal Gear Solid designer Hideo Kojima, and Civilization studio head Sid Meier.

The pair met while in medical school at the University of Alberta and continued to moonlight during the first days of BioWare. Once they made the game company their full-time jobs, Muzyka and Zeschuk oversaw the creation and development of role-playing games like Baldur's Gate, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Lifetime Achievement winners are chosen by the Game Developers Conference Awards Advisory Committee, which is made up of "notable" representatives from the game industry. Muzyka and Zeschuk will receive their award in person on Wednesday, March 27 at 6:30 p.m. at the Moscone Convention Center as part of the 2013 Game Developers Conference.

Those not in attendance at the awards show can watch a live online stream through GameSpot.