My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin

Yesterday came the news that EA plans to close BioWare, the Edmonton studio behind Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect and Dragon Age. I thought it was a good moment to revisit my conversation with Dr Greg Zeschuk, one of BioWare’s co-founders. We talk about the games that shaped him, and the long, remarkable journey of a studio that defined computer and console role-playing games for millions of people. Here’s my conversation with Greg Zeschuk.

[Original description] Greg Zeschuk is the co-founder of Bioware. While a medical student at the University of Alberta he told his future wife that, if he could, he’d make video games for a living. After he graduated, the dream came true when, in 1995, he and two friends y founded Bioware in his basement. The following year the trio released Shattered Steel and, two years after that, Baldur’s Gate, which revolutionised the world of computer role-playing games.

In the years that followed Bioware released a string of blockbuster hits, including Mass Effect, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. In 2007, just 12 years after its founding, the companywas sold to Electronic Arts as part of a deal worth $860 million. In recent years, my guest started a brewing company, Blind Enthusiasm, and today runs two microbreweries and a restaurant in Edmunton, where he has spent most of his life.

NOTES

Greg Zeschuk – BioWare & brewery
Greg Zeschuk – Wikipedia
Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company – official site
Blind Enthusiasm – The Monolith taproom, Edmonton
Greg Zeschuk on BioWare’s closure – Wired

BioWare
BioWare – Wikipedia
Ray Muzyka – BioWare co-founder, Wikipedia
Augustine Yip – BioWare co-founder, Wikipedia

Greg’s Perfect Console
Adventure (Atari 2600, 1980) – Wikipedia
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (Apple II, 1981) – Wikipedia
Dungeon Master (Atari ST, 1987) – Wikipedia
Diablo (1996) – Wikipedia
Elden Ring (2022) – official site
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC – Wikipedia

BioWare games discussed
Baldur’s Gate (1998) – Wikipedia
Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000) – Wikipedia
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003) – Wikipedia
Star Wars: The Old Republic (MMO) – official site
Jade Empire (2005) – Wikipedia
Mass Effect trilogy – Wikipedia
Dragon Age: Origins – Wikipedia
Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Wikipedia
MDK2 (2000) – Wikipedia
Shattered Steel (1996) – Wikipedia
Anthem (2019) – Wikipedia

Other games mentioned
Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios
Elden Ring – Wikipedia
Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo
Pool of Radiance (1988) – Wikipedia
Lords of the Fallen (2023) – Steam

Context and references mentioned
EA Spouse – the 2004 open letter that sparked the games industry crunch debate
Elevation Partners – Wikipedia (private equity firm that invested in BioWare)
Interplay Entertainment – Wikipedia (early publisher partner)
Blizzard North – Wikipedia (developers of Diablo)
Order of Canada – Wikipedia (Greg was appointed in 2018)
TSR, Inc. – Wikipedia (original owners of Dungeons & Dragons)
Ian M. Banks – Culture series author, Wikipedia
Alastair Reynolds – science fiction author, Wikipedia

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Daryl Baxter is a British writer and podcaster from Lincoln whose work has ranged across games, technology, and the history of the medium. He has written for outlets including WIRED, TechRadar, Den of Geek, and the Radio Times, and now publishes Springboard, a free newsletter about gaming, technology, and mental health that deliberately avoids chasing SEO or relying on AI. Growing up with series including Sonic, Metal Gear and, especially, Tomb Raider, he eventually turned that fascination into his first book, The Making of Tomb Raider, published in 2021 and based on extensive interviews with the original Core Design team.

His new book, The Making of Tomb Raider: 1997–2000, picks up the story as a new team took control of the series, tracing the creation of Tomb Raider III, The Last Revelation, Chronicles and the expansions, while exploring the punishing annual release cycle and the pressure of sustaining one of gaming’s biggest phenomena.

LINKS

Daryl Baxter – website & newsletter
Daryl Baxter – official website
Springboard – Daryl’s newsletter on games, tech and mental health (free to subscribe)

The Making of Tomb Raider: 1997–2000 (out 30 October 2026)
The Making of Tomb Raider: 1997–2000 – Waterstones
The Making of Tomb Raider: 1997–2000 – Pen & Sword Books
The Making of Tomb Raider: 1997–2000 – Amazon UK

Daryl’s earlier books
The Making of Tomb Raider (2021) – Pen & Sword Books
50 Years of Boss Fights – Pen & Sword Books

Daryl’s Perfect Console
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Mega Drive, 1994) – Wikipedia
Sonic 3 & Knuckles – Wikipedia
PlayStation Demo One disc (1995) – Wikipedia
Tomb Raider II (1997) – Wikipedia
Metal Gear Solid (1998) – Wikipedia
Metal Gear Solid – Steam
Half-Life 2 (2004) – Wikipedia
Half-Life 2 – Steam

Also mentioned
TR30 Tomb Raider Day – Derby Quad, 24 October 2026
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis – Crystal Dynamics & Flying Wild Hog (out 12 February 2027)
Tomb Raider: Catalyst – Wikipedia
Alix Wilton Regan – the new voice of Lara Croft (Wikipedia)
Peter Connelly – Tomb Raider 4 & 5 composer (Wikipedia)
Judith Gibbons – Lara Croft’s voice in Tomb Raider II, Wikipedia
Shelley Blond – Lara Croft’s voice in Tomb Raider I
Keeley Hawes – Lara Croft in Tomb Raider: Underworld
Half-Life 2 source code leak – Wikipedia
Games Master magazine – Wikipedia
GamesRadar – Rosalie Newcombe
Death by Video Game – Simon Parkin (buy via Bookshop.org UK)

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My Perfect Console – episode archive and data
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Will de Renzy-Martin is a British actor and voice performer whose career has increasingly become intertwined with video games. As a child, he was fascinated by storytelling and by watching his older brothers play Ocarina of Time, but initially followed a rather different path, reading Computing at Imperial College London. Before long, however, he changed direction, training as an actor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he discovered voiceover shortly before graduating in 2017.

Since then, he has built an extensive career in games, with roles in Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, Zenless Zone Zero, Warframe: The Old Peace, 007 First Light, Nioh 3, and many more. His biggest role to date, however, is Coen, the lead character in Rebel Wolves’ dark fantasy RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker, a performance that’s put him at the centre of one of 2026’s most ambitious new games.

NOTES

Will de Renzy-Martin – website & socials
Will de Renzy-Martin – official website (WillVoice.it)
Will de Renzy-Martin – Bluesky (@willvoiceit.bsky.social)
Will de Renzy-Martin – Instagram (@willvoiceit)

The Blood of Dawnwalker
The Blood of Dawnwalker – official site
The Blood of Dawnwalker – Steam
Rebel Wolves – the studio behind the game

Will’s Perfect Console
Breath of Fire II (SNES/GBA, 1994) – Wikipedia
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (N64, 2000) – Wikipedia
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006) – Wikipedia
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered – Steam
Devil May Cry 4 (2008) – Wikipedia
Devil May Cry 5 – Steam
Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009) – Wikipedia

Other games and references mentioned
Agatha Christie – Hercule Poirot: The First Cases – Wikipedia (Will’s first major game role)
Zenless Zone Zero – Wikipedia (Will voices Von Lycaon)
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader – Steam
007: First Light – official site
Leonie Schliesing – voice actor who first encouraged Will into games VO (Cyberpunk 2077, AC Valhalla)
Big Mouth Audio – the Glasgow audio studio where Will auditioned for Dawnwalker
Guildhall School of Music and Drama – where Will trained
Imperial College London – where Will studied Computing
Darksiders – Wikipedia
Meat Machine – the AI voice acting experiment Will references
Ninja Theory – British studio (DMC reboot, Hellblade)
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice – Steam
A Game of Birds and Wolves – Simon Parkin’s book (optioned for film)

My Perfect Console website
myperfectconsole.com – the new searchable episode archive and data site

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My guest today is an Irish writer, producer, and multimedia creator whose work spans journalism, video games, language, and digital culture. Born in Vietnam, she was adopted at three days old by a primary school teacher from County Kerry, and brought to Ireland at six weeks of age. Irish became one of her spoken languages, and it would go on to shape both her education and her career: she later studied Irish and Journalism at Dublin City University, building a body of work that moves across reporting, video games, and digital culture.

She has written books and essays on video games, migration, identity, and food, and has become a leading voice in Irish-language digital media through her localisation work on games including Among Us and VVVVVV. In 2026, she was recognised with the Emerging Talent award at the Irish Games Awards.

NOTES

Úna-Minh Kavanagh – website & socials
Úna-Minh Kavanagh – Bluesky (@unaminh.bsky.social)
Organic Matters – Úna-Minh's new Irish indie studio
Organic Matters – itch.io

CTRL: Essays on Video Games (the book featuring Úna-Minh's essay)
CTRL: Essays on Video Games – Lilliput Press (Waterstones)
Lilliput Press – publisher

Among Us – Irish language localisation
Among Us – official site (Innersloth)
Among Us on Steam

VVVVVV – Irish language localisation
VVVVVV – Terry Cavanagh, official site
VVVVVV – Steam

Úna-Minh's Perfect Console
Final Fantasy IX (2000) – Wikipedia
Final Fantasy IX – Steam
Nobuo Uematsu – composer, Wikipedia
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (Nintendo DS, 2007) – Wikipedia
Persona 4 Golden (PS Vita, 2012) – Wikipedia
Persona 4 Golden – Steam
This War of Mine (2014) – official site
This War of Mine – Steam
Saltsea Chronicles (2023) – Die Gute Fabrik
Saltsea Chronicles – Steam

Also mentioned
Die Gute Fabrik – studio behind Saltsea Chronicles
Hannah Nicklin – studio lead and creative director, Die Gute Fabrik
Citizen Sleeper – Gareth Damian Martin / Jump Over The Age
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector – Steam
Limit Break – mentorship programme for marginalised game developers
IMIRT – Irish Game Makers association (Irish Games Awards)
Global Game Jam
itch.io – indie games platform
Dublin City University – where Úna-Minh studied Irish and journalism

Support the show
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Paolo Pedercini is an Italian game designer, artist, educator, and activist whose work has spent more than two decades challenging assumptions about what video games are for, and what they are allowed to say. In 2003, he founded Molleindustria as a project dedicated to the "reappropriation of video games and the radicalisation of popular culture."

Since then, he has created a remarkable body of short, provocative games about labour, capitalism, religion, technology, and political power, including McDonald’s Videogame, Oiligarchy, Every Day the Same Dream, Phone Story, and Democratic Socialism Simulator. His games have often been satirical, often controversial, and always interested in using play as a way of thinking through systems and ideology. Now he is working on his most ambitious project yet: Future? No Thanks!, an open-world comedy adventure about a grumpy old man completing his bucket list in a solarpunk future.

NOTES:

Paolo Pedercini / Molleindustria
Molleindustria – official site (all Paolo's games)
Paolo Pedercini – Wikipedia
Paolo Pedercini – Bluesky (@molleindustria.org)

Future? No Thanks! (out now)
Future? No Thanks! – Steam
Future? No Thanks! – official site

Other Molleindustria games mentioned
McDonald's Video Game – play free in browser
Oiligarchy – play free in browser
Every Day the Same Dream – play free in browser
Phone Story – Wikipedia
Democratic Socialism Simulator – itch.io
Faith Fighter – play free in browser

Sweatshop (as mentioned by Simon)
Sweatshop – play in browser

The New Yorker piece (as mentioned by Simon)
The Division 2 and the Severing of Politics from Video Games – The New Yorker

Paolo's Perfect Console
Cannon Fodder (Sensible Software, 1993) – Wikipedia
Sensible Software – Wikipedia
Shadow of the Colossus (2005) – Wikipedia
Grand Theft Auto V – Rockstar Games
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Wikipedia
Push Me Pull You – House House (Steam)
House House – developer of Untitled Goose Game and Big Walk
Radiator Forever – Robert Yang (itch.io)
Robert Yang – game designer

Other games and references mentioned
Theme Park – Bullfrog Productions (1994), Wikipedia
Postal 2 – Wikipedia
GTA San Andreas Hot Coffee mod – Wikipedia
The Yes Men – activist/prankster duo
Foxconn suicides – Wikipedia
itch.io – indie games platform
Aftermath – independent games journalism
Tom Bissell – My Perfect Console episode
Untitled Goose Game – House House

Next week's guest
Úna Míng Kavanagh – IMIRT emerging talent award 2026
Úna Míng Kavanagh – TikTok (@unamingkavanagh)

Support the show
My Perfect Console – episode archive
Support My Perfect Console on Patreon
Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole
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