Game Developers Who Have Never Made a Bad Game

GamesRadar has put together a list of (still operating) game developing houses that have “never made a bad game.” Scoring mentions are the likes of Lionhead Studios (Fable, Fable II), Irrational/2K Boston (BioShock), and BioWare (Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect).

Like several studios on this list, BioWare typifies the success a dev can earn through knowing what it’s good at and continually honing its skills in that direction. In BioWare’s case, that direction means deeply engaging narrative and accessible depth. Which is pretty fortunate when you consider that it’s primarily an RPG house. Sensible choice, lads.

From the early days of Baldur’s Gate, through to Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect and Dragon Age, BioWare’s manifesto has seemed to be to create RPGs which cater to tastes far beyond the traditional Hawkwind-loving, beardy western RPG fan cliche. Happy to disguise its role-playing expertise under the guise of third-person shooter, movie license or even Sonic game, the studio always brings depth of both gameplay and story, but most importantly does it without dumbing things down or over-facing the player.

The company’s games are famed for freedom of narrative choice, but the choice of gameplay approach is also key. In a scene in which mainstream RPG tastes are still dominated by the rigid and repeated mechanics of Final Fantasy, BioWare offers consistently fresh alternatives which can engage the non-nerdy player in new ways every time they play. All that, and they made Amy Rose remarkably non-punchable. That borders on genius.