Editing BioWare (section)

===1990s: ''Shattered Steel'' and ''Baldur's Gate''===
Their first game, ''[[Shattered Steel]]'', began its life as a proof-of-concept demo, similar to the [[MechWarrior (video game series)|''MechWarrior'' games]]. This demo was submitted to ten publishers, seven of whom returned to the company with an offer. A publishing deal for ''Shattered Steel'' was eventually signed with [[Interplay Entertainment]]. Brent Oster and Trent Oster formed Pyrotek Studios, which continued developing ''Shattered Steel'' but broke up a year later, with Trent joining BioWare as an early employee to finish the game.<ref>{{cite web |title=Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition interview: Trent Oster on building "BioWare 0.6 Mark 2" |url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/baldur-s-gate-enhanced-edition-interview-trent-oster-building-bioware-06-mark-2 |access-date=5 January 2018 |last=Peel |first=Dan |date=23 November 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106064001/https://www.pcgamesn.com/baldur-s-gate-enhanced-edition-interview-trent-oster-building-bioware-06-mark-2 |archive-date=6 January 2018}}</ref> BioWare's first game was released the following year. ''Shattered Steel''{{'}}s release was described by [[IGN]] as a "modest success" with "decent sales". Two noteworthy points were the deformable terrain (player weapon damage caused craters in the environment) and zone damage (well-aimed gunfire could shoot mounted weapons off enemies). A sequel to ''Shattered Steel'' was planned for 1998 but never realized.<ref name="IGN History" />

BioWare's founders and staff were keenly interested in both [[role-playing video game|computerized]] and [[tabletop role-playing game|pen-and-paper]] variants of [[role-playing game]]s. Their next development project, therefore, was determined to be a role-playing game. When Interplay financed "exploratory development", BioWare presented the publishers with a demo called ''Battleground: Infinity''. Interplay suggested that the demonstrated gameplay engine would be well-suited to the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' licence which it had acquired from [[Strategic Simulations]]. Accordingly, ''Infinity'' was reworked in line with the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' ruleset.<ref name="IGN History" />

The result was ''[[Baldur's Gate (video game)|Baldur's Gate]]'', with a development cycle of three years. During this time, the three doctors continued to practice medicine. The demands of development later prompted Muzyka and Zeschuck to leave medicine and move into full-time development. Augustine Yip decided to continue with his medical practice. ''Baldur's Gate'' sold more than two million copies after its release, nearly matching the sales of ''[[Diablo (video game)|Diablo]]''. Following the success of ''Baldur's Gate'', the Infinity Engine was used for the games ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'' and the [[Icewind Dale (series)|''Icewind Dale'' series]]. The success of ''Baldur's Gate'' was followed by an expansion pack for the game: ''[[Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast|Tales of the Sword Coast]]''.<ref name="Eurogamer History">{{cite web |title=The History of BioWare |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/the-history-of-bioware-article |access-date=29 December 2011 |last=Whitehead |first=Dan |website=[[Eurogamer]] |date=16 November 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421220023/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/the-history-of-bioware-article |archive-date=21 April 2017}}</ref>