The co-founders of Bioware, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, have both announced their retirement today to pursue other career opportunities outside of games.

Muzyka and Zeschuk have both written blogs explaining their decision to leave.

Zeschuk notes his fading dedication to the industry, but emphasizes that the people he has worked with remain important. “After nearly twenty years working at BioWare I’ve decided it’s time to move on and pursue something new,” Zeschuk writes. “This decision isn’t without significant pain and regret, but it’s also something I know I need to do, for myself and my family. I’ve reached an unexpected point in my life where I no longer have the passion that I once did for the company, for the games, and for the challenge of creation.”

He mentions brewing craft beer as a possible pursuit post-games.

Muzyka describes the need to start a new chapter in his life, comparing the feeling to a similar one he felt when first starting Bioware and still working in medicine.

He intends to start his new chapter by entering in the entrepreneurial field. “I believe strongly in the power of free enterprise to enable sustainable change, so my next ‘chapter’ will likely focus on an entirely new industry, something exciting, different and frankly downright scary – investing in and mentoring new entrepreneurs, and more specifically, the field of social/impact investing,” Muzyka writes.

General Manager of Bioware Edmonton and Montreal Aaryn Flynn knows fans might be worried at this announcement, but tells them there is no need. “I know this might be concerning for some of you but the leaders at BioWare have had some time to think about it – to think about how the games, the fans, and the creative teams would move on without the two guys who started this organization back in 1995,” Flynn writes.

Since the company’s founding in 1995, Bioware has created some of the most influential franchises in the industry like Baldur’s Gate and the Mass Effect trilogy. The studio was purchased by EA in 2007.

It was announced yesterday a third game in the company’s Dragon Age series is in development and scheduled for 2013.