Last I heard, we had multiple openings. They try to roll them up into single postings, perhaps this is the "most important" one they're looking for.

Feel free to send me your details and I'll ask on Monday.

I am not currently looking for work, but I love BioWare and was curious which positions were available. The question about experience popped into my head as I was reading over the job description and I thought that other people who are looking to apply may have been wondering the same thing. Thanks for the prompt reply!

Are these positions for local candidates only? Im a Front End Developer but not in Austin (at the moment).

Well, you'd have to move here, but a relocation budget would be provided.

I completely respect your company's requirement for locals, but I am genuinely curious as to why companies continue to insist on local presence for most all positions. I can guess at what the perceived benefits would be, but would really like to hear from an actual hiring manager what their actual reasons are. Are the reasons more about control, or economics?

I think you underestimate the cultural requirement for remote work, which any company not founded by UNIX geeks who grew up on IRC won't have. We're not that company. We've been around for fifteen years, and the doctors, writers, artists and designers who don't like working that way substantially outnumber the Windows desktop-centric and video game console developers, few of whom are likely comfortable with a terminal window.

BioWare has people in all five studios working on the game, so we have some experience with working remotely, but that includes things like videoconferencing equipment in every meeting room and video chat cameras and headsets on most PCs.

Successfully supporting remote workers is difficult and most companies are not equipped for the cultural shift that optimal remote work requires.

In addition, the web team works across almost every part of the organization, and that includes senior management who don't sit in front of a PC all day, so you have to chase them down in person to find out an answer to something.

From an implementation standpoint, all of the work we're doing expects fast, localhost or local network access to everything from video game servers to Oracle databases. It's pretty slow to work from home over VPN, and if you're remote, things like network route problems have prevented people from working for days at a time.

Finally, it's BioWare, and it's Star Wars. The company is used to people liking the game industry and this company enough to move here from all over the world, sometimes on their own dime, for the privilege of being part of one of the few universally well-respected game companies and work the only property with a realistic chance of being the next big MMO.

Are the positions only available for US citizens/residents? I'm basically what you're after (senior java dev with 10+ years experience), but I'm British.

We do occasionally procure visas. Apply and find out? :)