Raymond Alexander Muzyka is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some specie ...

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

and

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. Originally trained as a medical doctor and practicing as an emergency department and family physician after graduation, he is the co-founder of

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...

BioWare BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated Doctor of Medicine, medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zes ...

, and was

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, senior vice president, and general manager of the BioWare label of

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

. In October 2012 he announced that he was embarking on a 'third career' mentoring and

angel investing An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital for a business or businesses start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or owners ...

in technology, new media, medical and social entrepreneurs, and

impact investing Impact investing refers to investing, investments "made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return". At its core, impact investing is ...

at ThresholdImpact.

Career

Muzyka co-founded

, which was incorporated in 1995, with

Greg Zeschuk Gregory Zeschuk is a Canadian businessman who was a VP at Electronic Arts and General Manager at BioWare Austin until 2012. He co-founded video game developer BioWare in Edmonton in 1995 with Ray Muzyka and Augustine Yip, after all three earned ...

and Augustine Yip, in the early 1990s after they earned their medical degrees at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

. After selling BioWare to

in 2008, Muzyka became a general manager and vice president at EA in addition to his CEO role at BioWare, and subsequently was promoted to senior vice president and general manager of the BioWare label at EA. In addition to his project development role, Muzyka has also managed the financial, human resources, operations, marketing and legal business side of BioWare, and he completed his executive Masters in Business Administration (MBA) program in 2001 at the

Ivey School of Business Ivey Business School is a constituent unit of the University of Western Ontario, located in London, Ontario, Canada. Ivey offers full-time undergraduate (HBA), MBA, MSc, MFE and PhD programs and also maintains two teaching facilities in Toronto ...

, UWO. He completed his Medical Doctorate (MD) in 1992 from the

, and subsequently obtained his specialization from the Canadian College of Family Physicians (CCFP) in 1994. Muzyka was named as one of Canada's "Top 40 under 40" in 2001, received Ernst and Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award (Software and Information, Prairies) in 2001, and the BDC Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 1997. Muzyka also graduated from Old Scona Academic High School in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada where he took the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

program, finishing fourth worldwide and first in North America the year he graduated. Muzyka was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame in 2011., received the Lifetime Achievement award from the International Game Developers Choice Awards in 2013, and was named as the 2017 Allard Chair in Business at MacEwan University. He was named into the Alberta Business Hall of Fame in 2018. On December 27, 2018, Muzyka was appointed to the Order of Canada. In 2019 Muzyka received the Rod Charko Service Award from the Venture Capital Association of Alberta for his service to the startup entrepreneurial community in the province of Alberta. Muzyka is an active member of the

Young Presidents' Organization YPO (formerly Young Presidents' Organization) is an American-based worldwide leadership community of chief executives with approximately 29,000 members in more than 130 countries, according to the organization's 2019 YPO international fact sheet. ...

(YPO), and a Charter Member of the A100 since 2012. He also serves as the Founding Chair of the

Venture Mentoring Service since fall 2013, a program intended to help develop, uplift and inspire University of Alberta student and alumni entrepreneurs by creating excellent mentorship experiences for both entrepreneurs and mentors. Muzyka served from 2014 to 2020 as a member of the

Board of Governors, and as Chair of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee. He serves as a mentor in the

Creative Destruction Lab Creative may refer to: *Creativity, phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is created * "Creative" (song), a 2008 song by Leon Jackson * Creative class, a proposed socioeconomic class * Creative destruction, an economic term * Creative dir ...

(CDL West Prime and Health, CDL Rockies Prime, CDL Toronto Health). Muzyka was from 2001 to 2008 a board member of the

Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

. Muzyka served the

Stollery Children's Hospital The Stollery Children's Hospital is a 218 bed children's hospital that opened in October 2001. It is a "hospital within a hospital," being situated within the University of Alberta Hospital and co-located with Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute i ...

Foundation as a volunteer Director on their Board of Trustees from 2012 to late 2015. In October 2012 Muzyka announced on the BioWare website that he was retiring from the video game industry and that he is moving on to a 'third career chapter', mentoring and investing in entrepreneurs in technology, new media, medical innovation, and social entrepreneurs and

. He announced his new company, Threshold Impact, in early 2013, to be focused on "sustainable, profitable impact investing". An avid poker player who plays in the

WSOP The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...

and other events each year, Muzyka won the inaugural DICE poker tournament, in 2006 which featured a range of notable poker celebrities such as

Scott Fischman Scott Fischman (born 1980 in Langhorne, Pennsylvania) is an American professional poker player based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Poker career Fischman grew up in South Jersey and moved to Las Vegas at the age of 12. He was introduced to poker by a sc ...

Chris Ferguson Christopher Philip Ferguson (born April 11, 1963) is an American professional poker player. He has won six World Series of Poker events, including the 2000 WSOP Main Event, and the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Ferguson is a ...

and

Perry Friedman Perry Friedman (born May 15, 1968) is an American professional poker player who won the 2002 World Series of Poker $1,500 Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better event and is a founding member of the Tiltboys. World Series of Poker Friedman has ...

, playing heads-up with

Mike Morhaime Michael "Mike" Morhaime (born November 3, 1967) is an American video game developer and entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Dreamhaven, located in Irvine, California. Morhaime is best known as the co-founder and t ...

from

Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three graduat ...

at the final table. He also became the only player thus far to win the DICE tournament twice, when he chopped the final table with three other players for first place again in the 2010 DICE tournament. He competed in the 2008 WCPC CPT Main Event (Western Canadian Main Event, Canadian Poker Tour) and chopped the final table with the final four players to take home the 2008 WCPC ring. He finished 374th of 7319 players in the 2010 Main Event of the WSOP.

BioWare projects credited with platforms and dates

* ''

Shattered Steel ''Shattered Steel'' is a mech simulation game released in 1996 by BioWare for MS-DOS, and later ported to Mac OS by now-defunct Logicware. It is notable for the deformable terrain effects, and for being BioWare's first developed game.BioWarBiowa ...

'' (PC and Mac, 1996) * ''

Baldur's Gate ''Baldur's Gate'' is a series of role-playing video games set in the Forgotten Realms '' Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign setting. The game has spawned two series, known as the ''Bhaalspawn Saga'' and the ''Dark Alliance'', both taking place mostl ...

'' (PC and Mac, 1998) ** '' Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast'' (PC and Mac, 1999) * ''

MDK2 ''MDK2'' is a 2000 third-person shooter, Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by BioWare and published by Interplay Entertainment for the Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows, Windows and PlayStation 2. It is a sequel to the 1997 ...

'' (Dreamcast and PC, 2000) * '' Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn'' (PC and Mac, 2000) ** '' Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal'' (PC and Mac, 2001) * '' MDK2: Armageddon'' (PS2, 2001) * ''

Neverwinter Nights ''Neverwinter Nights'' is a series of video games developed by BioWare and Obsidian Entertainment, based on the ''Forgotten Realms'' campaign setting of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. Aside from also being set in the Dungeons & Dra ...

'' (PC and Mac, 2002) ** '' Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide'' (PC and Mac, 2003) ** '' Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark'' (PC and Mac, 2003) ** '' Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker'' (PC and Mac, 2005) * '' Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic'' ("''KotOR''") (Xbox and PC and Mac, 2003) * ''

Jade Empire ''Jade Empire'' is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare, originally published by Microsoft Game Studios in 2005 as an Xbox exclusive. It was later ported to Microsoft Windows personal computers (PC) and published by 2K Games in 2007. ...

'' (Xbox, 2005/PC, 2006) * ''

Mass Effect ''Mass Effect'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Casey Hudson, Drew Karpyshyn and Preston Watamaniuk. The franchise depicts a distant future where humanity and several alien civilizations have colonized the known univers ...

'' (Xbox 360, 2007/PC, 2008/PlayStation 3, 2012) * '' Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood'' (2008) * '' Dragon Age: Origins'' (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Mac, 2009) * ''

Mass Effect 2 ''Mass Effect 2'' is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in 2010 and PlayStation 3 in 2011. It is the second installment in the ''Mass Effect'' series and a ...

'' (Xbox 360, PC, 2010)(PlayStation 3, 2011) * ''

Dragon Age II ''Dragon Age II'' is a 2011 action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts (EA). It is the second major game in the ''Dragon Age'' series and the successor to '' Dragon Age: Origins'' (2009). Set in the wor ...

'' (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, 2011) * '' Star Wars: The Old Republic'' (PC, 2011) * ''

Mass Effect 3 ''Mass Effect 3'' is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. The third major entry in the ''Mass Effect'' series and the final installment of the original trilogy, it was released in March 2012 fo ...

'' (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, 2012)

Awards and recognition

At the

Game Developers Choice Awards The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually presented at the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games. Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were ...

, on March 27, 2013, Muzyka was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award. On December 27, 2018, Muzyka was appointed to the Order of Canada.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muzyka, Ray Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame inductees Angel investors BioWare people Canadian video game designers Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Dungeons & Dragons video game designers Game Developers Conference Lifetime Achievement Award recipients Living people Members of the Order of Canada People from Edmonton Video game directors Year of birth missing (living people)